


The Beginning of An End

by Cakie



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Genocide Run, Other, fuck me up, nobody bangs, wanna have a bad time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-17 13:59:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 94,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5873083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cakie/pseuds/Cakie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a heartfelt pacifist ending, where Frisk leaves the underground with all of their friends. The human lives a wonderful, domestic life with their monster family. The monsters are all happy, and their deepest wishes are fulfilled with their freedom. Everything seems absolutely perfect, except the lurking darkness of a past that Frisk cannot let go of. Just when everything seems to be resolved, their sins return to tear Frisk's life apart by the seams. You can't take back what you did. You're future is forever tainted. Their dust is ingrained in the skin of your hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It seemed like forever since Frisk had seen starlight; True stars glimmering in the expanding void of space and not glittering stones embedded in a dark rocky cavern. Frisk was nowhere close to tired of the magical world enclosed in Mount Ebott however after such a long journey, it was profoundly relieving to breath the crisp air they knew and see the daunting amount of land stretch on and on beyond their sight, knowing there was no wall or barrier this time to stop them from going wherever they wanted to go.

 In truth, it had probably not been more than a day or so since Frisk had fallen down into that hole in the mountain. The unshackled future was glowing on the faces of their friends as they watched the setting sun bleed its last rays of warmth across the sky in a beautiful cloak of melting reds and oranges into a cool blue. Frisk had no concept of just how long it had been since their monster friends had seen sunlight, seen real stars, breathed air not wormed through thick, damp rock walls but they all acted like their lives had been reborn with their freedom.

 Hopeful voices whispered in the back of Frisk's mind, dreams told softly to quiet blue flowers. The monsters' dreams of seeing the real stars. Frisk felt overwhelmingly triumphant knowing after all of their efforts they managed to set everyone free. It almost didn't feel real: the chill on their skin, the hum of familiar voices speaking on either side of them, the powerful drumming of their heart in their chest. It was real though, unbelievably real. Flowey...Asriel had broken the barrier using every monster in the underground's soul to imitate the power of the missing human one, thus giving him the energy of seven human souls. Then, after destroying the wall, he returned everyone right back where they were taken, no damage done, but incredible gain for all. Frisk only had one regret, through their entire journey; They couldn't save Asriel. The poor child was still back there, looming over that buttercup patch as their borrowed form returned to the cursed vessel brought unto them. A soulless, empty flower. It made Frisk sadder than words could express to think they would be there all by themself. They saved everyone, spared every life and granted everyone's burning wish except Asriel's. The best Frisk could do for the little goat child was pull them from their monstrous rampage and help them see the light again. They had forgotten what love was like, what it felt like to be warm and soon they'd forget again.

Frisk looked up at expecting, relaxing brown eyes. Toriel smiled down at them, a fire like home softly glowing around her pupils. Everyone else had gone but she remained, to ask Frisk a very important question, one they hadn't considered an option for a very long time. Would they like to stay with her? The idea of leaving now seemed impossible. Frisk felt they belonged with Toriel, with their loving wonderful goat mom. How could they part from this family they had formed? Of course Frisk wanted to stay with her. It was shared between the two of them how funny it was Frisk didn't just initially stay with Toriel when she had first offered. If they had, none of this would've happened. No one would be free, but perhaps they would all still be friends. Whatever reason Frisk had for going onwards, whatever they had wanted to return to was undesirable now. They had a new purpose, a new home, and a new determination. They weren't going back anymore, only forward to forge a new story with their family.

Frisk walked off the mountain-side with Toriel's large, fluffy hand curled around their small one. It was warm, like everything about Toriel; warm and inviting. Frisk didn't care where they went, they'd follow wherever this soothing glow brought them because it could only be good things. Though it was sad to say goodbye to the mountain, to the strange and unfamiliar sights and wonders it held, Frisk felt they'd be back. It was like the mountain was pulling them, gently coaxing them to return and one day they knew they would.

 

 

The home they found on the surface was the coziest place Frisk had ever seen. With a thick wooden floor and sturdy wood walls with old floral wallpapers and dated plush carpets. The house seemed lived in and it radiated care and love. Just stepping inside made them relaxed enough that they could be lulled to sleep in any place, any room. Of course the home Toriel chose would be like this, and unsurprisingly Asgore as well. Both of their homes had been welcoming, if not identical. Sadly, it was tense with Asgore and Toriel living together. Frisk could see the monster king was trying so hard to earn back the shattered faith scattered in Toriel's heart but she ruthlessly shut him down time and time again. It was often very awkward to be in the same room as the two. Sometimes their tension rose like humid air and the comfortable home grew stuffy. At those times it became very beneficial that Papyrus had gotten the car he had always dreamed of; A shiny red sports car with a detachable roof. He would take Frisk out for a ride where the wind would whip away their troubled thoughts and they'd return with too much energy to be down. It was exhilarating, but the best feeling by far was the way the skeleton's eye sockets seemed to shine when he drove, unaided by the bright streetlights they whizzed past.

Frisk had given Papyrus that chance, to live his wildest dream and that always made them overflow with pride. Of course Papyrus' other dream never came to fruition, but he never held a grudge against Frisk. On the surface there was no need for a royal guard, and truthfully Papyrus' only drive for becoming one was to be loved. Everyone loved the guard: the power, the prestige, the popularity. Papyrus had lots of love now. He had more than double the friends he had before and the quality of those friends surpassed any number of fans he could've attained as a guard. He was satisfied and loving his role as mascot of the party of monsters slowly integrating into the human world.

Sans got a job, two in fact. The lazy skeleton was oddly quite the busybody once they had settled down. It was as if once their furniture was put in, the rooms assigned, and plans for their future set in motion all this energy just rushed into the tiny monster. It was a subtle change, but everyone could see he was much happier above ground. At night he performed comedy at a small bar in the town the monsters had essentially swarmed. During the day he worked as part of a cooking team for a restaurant nearby his other job. Papyrus had asked Sans to get him a job as a chef there too, the head chef since his masterful spaghetti would surely bring in crowds every night. Sans talked him out of it since he would have a lot of responsibility as the mascot of the monsters. Papyrus was disheartened at first but then energized by his position. He agreed Sans was right and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Toriel became a teacher at a school the monsters all built. Humans were of course welcome but they didn't want to force their way into the human schools all of a sudden so they made their own. Asgore was the principal of the school, taking up the title and charge but any real decisions about the building went to Toriel. The only thing Asgore got to control was the gorgeous garden expertly raised by the huge monster's tender, caring hands. When he heard from Undyne that Papyrus had once dreamed of the king trimming a hedge of his smile, he found it so sweet he did just that and put a fluffy tree of Papyrus' face right outside the gates of their school. What better symbol than their lovable mascot? Papyrus was moved to tears and had Sans and Frisk take pictures of him in front of it for over an hour before Toriel dragged Frisk in to class.

Undyne and Alphys got jobs as teachers at the school as well. Undyne was a ruthless gym teacher, but an inspiring one with her boundless energy. She had the kids do class outside whenever possible, even in the rain. Sometimes especially in the rain. Though gym seemed to be more of a chance for her to blow off steam, the kids didn't mind participating in her intense tests of strength by letting her lift them in teetering stacks.

Alphys became a science teacher, finding that was her only talent she could use towards supporting their household. She felt awkward around Toriel, after what she had done back in the underground she was sure Toriel found her disgusting. Thankfully Undyne was close by to encourage her and with Frisk in her class she got by each day with the support of her friends. It was a struggle, and she battled hating herself daily but she knew she'd get by. The sun shone on their town and things could only get better.

 

The happy family gathered around a massive, but abused couch while a familiar metal friend danced across the television screen. Napstablook hovered over a sound system, almost impossible to see with the blindingly white stage lights piercing the stage unless you were looking for them. Shyren swayed and swam side to side by her microphone, softly chiming accompaniment to Mettaton's powerful, overzealous singing as he stomped from one side of the stage to the other, long elegant legs sticking out from a busily lit rectangle. Though the town they lived in was packed with the monsters from the mountain, after time the monsters realized it was okay to be distant from one another. Some slowly drifted off, following Mettaton to his shows or exploring the vast new sights the world held for them. Sans wondered aloud if Burgerpants was a drifter or if Mettaton kept the poor guy on a short leash as he was very visible when the camera panned to the side of the stage. He wasn't putting much effort into hiding, just glaring emptily as Mettaton shed his boxy form and emerged in his shapely new body, the crowd roaring excitedly in response.

Papyrus and Frisk cheered, clapping and hollering for their friend during the pause the robot took to bask in his glory. Alphys meekly joined in once Papyrus and Frisk had already started and cheered for her friend as well.

"Oh is that the time? Frisk, my child you have school tomorrow!" Toriel stood up from the couch, perhaps relieved she no longer had to be pressed against Asgore's side anymore as the two of them usually shared the large couch. Frisk's joyful expression dropped right to the floor. Sans was right beside them grinning at their reluctant face.

"Better head to bed, kiddo. You got a brand new day waiting for you when you wake up." Frisk was unamused, and unencouraged. The pointedly empty expression they gave Sans made the skeleton laugh.

"Yes, Frisk! You should get some sleep so you have plenty of energy for tomorrow!" Papyrus shot up to his feet and held a gloved hand out to Frisk. It made Frisk feel a little better that Papyrus always went to bed when they did, it made them feel less like they were missing out on whatever the adults did once they were gone. At least they weren't the only ones that had to go to bed early. They took Papyrus' soft hand and let the tall skeleton pull them to their feet.

"Sleep tight punk because tomorrow I'm working you for all you're worth! Laps, pushups, EXTREME DODGEBALL!" Undyne couldn't contain her vigorous energy, roaring to the ceiling with her fist to the air. "I'm going to destroy you all tomorrow!" She laughed loudly, flashing her massive teeth jovially. Frisk was not looking forward to the exhaustion they would undoubtedly feel after Undyne's gym class but it kept them strong and it was always nice to see her so happy.

"Don't go too hard on them Undyne...t-they're always so sluggish in my class...a-after yours and never want to study!" Alphys said quietly, peeking up at Undyne with her chin tucked down shyly.

"I will be up in a moment my child!" Toriel called, lingering by Undyne and waiting for her moment to speak as the fish warrior cried on.

"Goodnight Frisk." Asgore said in a gentle rumble, seeming almost guilty that he spoke to Frisk as he glanced quickly to Toriel then back at Frisk with a nervous smile. Papyrus walked Frisk to the stairs, waving with a smile to Sans who could have possibly been waving for a long time, waiting for Frisk and Papyrus to notice him. The two headed for bed waved and just before crossing the level from the living room to upstairs Frisk heard Toriel finally murmur with concern,

"What exactly will they be doing in, 'extreme dodgeball'?"

"They never say goodnight to you..." Frisk noted quietly, looking up at their skeleton friend stretched way up towards the ceiling.

"Well of course not I always go back down and they tell me then!" Papyrus said and then his face stiffened like he had said something he shouldn't've.

"Heeeey." Frisk whined, squinting accusingly at Papyrus but still holding his hand as he led the human into their bedroom.

"Do not worry human I do not deceive you! I am going to sleep myself very soon! I just like coming up with you first as your great escort to dreamland! Since my dreams are so fantastic I hope that every night I can give some of my wonderful fantasies to you!" It was so sincere and touching, there was no way Frisk could doubt Papyrus at all. He knew the skeleton would be sleeping just like them soon and forgot the mild hurt they felt before. Papyrus waited outside the room while Frisk changed into their pajamas, taking a little longer than usual because they were torn between the green with the gold stripes or the blue with the pink stripes. All of their pajamas were striped but still the choice was a difficult one. Frisk settled on the green and then brushed their teeth with Papyrus. They didn't think Papyrus even needed to brush his teeth, but every night the skeleton would load a toothbrush up with toothpaste and scrub away at his big bony mouth while the two had nonsense, muffled conversations about topics neither of them knew.

Once Frisk was all ready for bed Papyrus followed them back into their room and waited for them to jump under their sheets and get comfortable.

"Do you need anything now that you're settled, Frisk? A story? Some of my delicious spaghetti?" Frisk giggled and shook their head.

"I just brushed my teeth Papyrus!"

"Ah so no spaghetti, of course! Well then, good night, human!" Papyrus slowly turned to leave, in no rush and stopped as his foot hit the ground towards the door.

"Papyrus!" Frisk called, sitting up in bed and pointing to their forehead, holding back their messy brown bangs with the opposite hand. The lanky skeleton turned back around and smiled.

"But Frisk I am a skeleton. I cannot give good night kisses because I don't have lips!" He said, quoting off the little bedtime game they played sometimes.

"You gotta try! The Great Papyrus has to at least try!"

"Yes! You're right human! How foolish of me!" Papyrus walked back to the side of the bed and bent over, tapping his teeth lightly against Frisk's forehead.

"Hehehe~ Thanks for the smooch babe." Frisk said, clicking their tongue at Papyrus and winking at him. Papyrus shot back, an embarrassed flush dusting his bony cheeks.

"Frisk!" Instead of backing down, Frisk just raised two finger pistols at Papyrus and clicked their tongue again while winking. "I hope that is a platonic wink." Papyrus said, playfully wary.

"Only for the hottest skeleton mascot in town." They kept it up, clicking their tongue twice after for effect. Papyrus gave a bashful 'Nyehhehheh' and then turned to the door.

"Good night Frisk." He said, waving over his shoulder, the light from the hall catching his fond smile.

"Night Papyrus!" Frisk said, flopping back onto their pillow, staring at the ceiling which soon went dark as Papyrus flipped off the light switch. They could hear everyone's voices from downstairs, carrying through the open doorway. As Papyrus' light creaking footsteps descended the stairs Frisk heard everyone wish the skeleton a good night which they had never paid attention to before. Papyrus beckoned Undyne and Frisk strained to hear her say something to...Alphys? and then stomp towards the stairway. Her strong footsteps thudded through the house like she was slamming her heels into the floor with every step. It seemed Undyne went to bed this early as well which made Frisk very happy to have a bigger group of early sleepers. Papyrus then said something to...Sans about his job while Undyne thudded distractingly up the stairs. Sans' low voice was the hardest to hear, as it was soft and didn't carry. Frisk only heard the word, 'shortcut'.

At the top of the stairs Frisk could see Undyne's shadow looming like a hulking monstrous figure across their doorway, the shadow of the railing like a spear in her hand. Perhaps to another child that image would be terrifying but Frisk held such fondness for the fish monster and her magical glowing spear attack that they smiled tiredly. Undyne's sharp facial fin poked out from the side of Frisk's door and slowly creeped out towards the opening, followed by her face where only an empty black head's silhouette hovored at the doorway. Her eye didn't reflect much light so her facial features were entirely hidden until her massive teeth appeared, shining from the moonlight from Frisk's window and the living room light.

Frisk whined unhappily, knowing it was their friend but the face was scary nonetheless and they were going to sleep soon.

"Did I scare you? Huh??" Undyne came out from behind the wall, standing casually in the hallway with a hand on her hip, still grinning. Frisk stubbornly scrunched up their face and shook their head though they were tugging the blankets right up to their chin like they'd duck under them at any second. "Liar! Hahaha! One of these days I'm going to scare you so good you'll finally scream Frisk!" She made this her goal whenever preying on Frisk since they were usually so quiet and composed. Frisk was determined not to let her win, but also never looked forward to the times she'd come lurching up behind them. They got her good a couple of times though and really the scares never held any real harm. They were in good fun, long after being scared and mad was over.

"Don't bother Frisk, Undyne, they're trying to sleep!" Toriel scolded gently, her footsteps silent but the house creaked and groaned supporting her heavy weight shifting about.

"Yeah, yeah I'm not!" Undyne gave Frisk one last shiny grin and then turned away swiftly, her ponytail bouncing playfully across her shoulders. Papyrus came into Frisk's sights, waving as he walked by to his and Undyne's room, his boots softly tapping across the floor. Frisk lifted their hand just enough to wave back and then Toriel came and filled the entire entrance, only a bit of light streaming past her fuzzy ears.

"You are supposed to be asleep." She said, stepping soundlessly into the room, holding something out in front of her.

"Nobody falls asleep that fast." Frisk said, eyeing the slice of butterscotch cinnamon pie Toriel was walking up to them.

"Well now if I leave this here I'm worried you are just going to eat it and have nightmares." She frowned at the pie, looking like she was considering taking it back downstairs.

"I won't! I promise! I'll have it first thing in the morning, mom!" A great big smile spread across Toriel's face when Frisk said that. She giggled softly and bent down to set the plate on the floor.

"Very well, my child. I trust you." Once she was back upright she walked around the pie to stand beside where Frisk laid down. Dull moonlight spilled into the room and sweet, loving mirth twinkled in the chestnut eyes staring at Frisk; her sweet little child lying in bed. She brushed back the long, smooth hair curling over the human's forehead with a heavy, fluffy paw and swept that hair to the side of their face. "Goodnight, sleep well." She said, her voice like a lullaby and her hands plush and soft. Frisk leaned into her paw and let their heavy eyes slip shut, unable to defy her soothing presence. They only hummed contently in response and with a soft sigh their body eased even more into the bed. Soft fur glided across Frisk's cheek, under their eye, and lingered on the side of their face. Then the weight of Toriel's paw was gone but its warmth stayed behind on Frisk's skin. Sleep quickly rushed in around Frisk, clouding everything. They could hear the floor creaking more and more distantly, stop for what seemed like a long time and then continue back downstairs. Their mind wandered, to the sound of their own even breath, to Toriel's voice humming from downstairs, and Alphys' higher pitched response.

They didn't hear Sans come into their room. The house didn't creak, his slippers didn't shuffle on the floor at all but Frisk distinctly felt the ridges of bony fingers rest along their hairline. That was all they felt as time blurred away, swirling around with a carrying thought of Sans' cold fingers being ice cream cones. They weren't sure if they really heard this, but somewhere they had the feeling Sans had said,

"Thanks, kiddo."

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters get longer as you go. OwO9

Frisk woke up in the kitchen of their cozy little house. The tiles were bitterly cold on their bare feet and their right arm felt heavy. Opening their eyes they immediately wondered why they were not in bed, but instead staring at the kitchen table where seven chairs of varying sizes were squished to fit around a simple but strong wooden table. A clock shaped like a happy, smiling flower hung on the wall over the table. It was 2:01, presumably in the morning since the entire house was dark. Looking to the side at the sliding glass door leading outside, night was still embracing the world. Frisk felt a tickle in their nose which crept into their face and forced them to reel forward and sneeze. They barely lifted their left arm in time to press their face into their elbow. Dust lept up into the air from their sleeve, making Frisk want to sneeze again. They squinted at the dingy cloud hovoring around them, groggy and confused and shifted their grip on the handle pressed into their palm. Frisk looked down to see a pointy kitchen knife in their hand, pointed threateningly in front of them. They also noticed the dirt clinging to their nice green pajamas, all up their sleeves and on their chest. Concerned and bewildered they brushed the dust from their clothes and turned around to put the knife back in the drawer where it belonged.

Hovering in front of the countertop where a massive pie sat was a brilliant, glowing, white soul. Below the soul was a large pile of dirt, spilled onto the floor. Frisk felt their body go numb, they let go of the knife but it didn't hit the floor. Icy claws raked down the back of Frisk's neck wryly, dipping into their shoulder blades and then returning to the base of their neck where sweat was beading to descend again. They took slow, uneasy steps towards the pile of dust and then without meaning to, walked around it to head into the living room. They had wanted to inspect the pile, to take that lonely soul and bring it to someone who could help but Frisk couldn't even turn their head back to look at it. They felt cold and distant from their body yet they could feel everything moving. They felt their skin brushing against the fabric of their pajamas but their body was moving on its own. It was a terrifying sensation to watch themself walk around but be unable to move the limbs they wanted, the way they wanted. Frisk stopped in front of another pile of dust, yet another blindingly bright white soul floated above it, streaming out beams of life into the dark room. Their leg drew back and they kicked the pile of dust so it fell and scattered messily across the floor. Frisk was confused and scared, they wanted to call for help, they wanted their friends to make this nightmare end.

Frisk continued to walk, their left foot sliding on the smooth wooden floor trailing dusty footprints behind them. They were approaching the stairs. Their fingers squeezed the handle of the knife and an ache grew in their cheeks. Their viewpoint rose to the top of the stairs where a light stretched from down the hallway. The round shadow of a head blocked some of the hall light, dragged across the wall back to whatever door was open. Soft tapping approached the stairs, the shadow looming larger. Frisk found themself approaching the stairs again, their dusty hand reaching out to grab the railing like they were going to swing around it to race to the top of the steps. Their fingers hurt from clenching the knife so tightly.

"Who is there? Toriel? Asgore, are you alright?" Papyrus' voice called down, crisp and unmuddied by sleep. Frisk was terrified now that their body was going to hurt Papyrus. The way it was waiting, silently, lurking by the bottom of the stairs made them almost certain the intent to harm their skeleton friend was there. They kept shifting their wrist while holding the knife, like they were impatient. They made it dance back and forth like it couldn't stay still. Frisk didn't want to hurt Papyrus. They knew enough to guess the two souls behind them were Toriel and Asgore which meant they had killed two beloved members of their family. The dust coating their body was what was left of their mother, and father. Frisk couldn't feel panicked, they couldn't feel tears stinging their eyes though they knew they should be crying. They felt nothing deep in their body but an empty thump in their chest. Their face still ached and their eyes bore into the stairs disappearing behind the wall to the upper level of the house.

"Hello?" Papyrus' voice called uncertainly, the stairs creaking gently as he took a step. Everything sounded too loud in Frisk's ears while dead silence permeated from the kitchen. They wanted to shout and warn Papyrus, or to drop that filthy knife in their hand but despite their struggling they had no control over their own body. They remained, poised and waiting for Papyrus to draw closer, their breathing a quiet hiss of anticipation. Papyrus took another step and Frisk's body crouched in preparation for movement. He took another step and Frisk tried to scream. Nothing happened. Papyrus gulped in the darkness and took another step. Frisk couldn't move their hand. Their arm reeled back like a coiled snake.

Just then, the muffled sound of keys jangled outside the front door a long ways down but directly across from the stairway. Frisk's body stiffened up and a full body shiver jolted across their skin. The door's lock clicked and grinded momentarily and then opened with a heavier click. Frisk's body backed up but refused to let go of the knife.

"Sans if you're pranking me, this is not the time! I am not amused!" Papyrus called, keeping his spot where he was on the stairs. The door swung open and there Sans stood, the stumpy skeleton a puffy frame in the doorway with tiny white lit eyes that pierced through the shadows.

"What are you saying Papyrus? Shouldn't you be in be-" Those eyes locked hard onto Frisk and then vanished. Absolute blackness burrowed through Frisk's body and once again, they shivered accompanied by a vile churning in their stomach. "Frisk...Buddy.

W h a t ' s  w i t h  t h e  k n i f e  i n  y o u r  h a n d?" Sans asked carefully, his voice dropping to a low and surprisingly familiar tone.

"Frisk? Are you down there? What's going on?" Papyrus asked, now hopping down the steps faster with Sans approaching from the front door. Frisk was scared, and they felt their fear seize their entire body with a startling grip. They didn't know what to do, they had only heard Sans talk like that once before and it was when he had admitted he would have killed Frisk had Toriel not made him promise not to. As he came closer and the front door swung shut to block the lights from outside, Frisk saw Sans' eyes were gone, only empty voids swallowed his sockets. Sans would kill them for this. Though the skeleton had never once shown any hint of violence towards Frisk they knew with a stabbing terror Sans would kill them.

Frisk whirled around and their foot hit the dusty floor with a dull slap. It slid out from under them, gliding along the dirt and sending Frisk to meet the ground hard on their side. The knife clattered down and spun away from them which was a relief and yet Frisk's body felt bombarded by icy pin pricks. They scrambled over to collect the knife quickly and dashed back into the kitchen.

"Frisk!" Papyrus yelled worriedly, his boots sharply tapping behind Frisk and with the skeleton's height it would be stupidly easy to catch up with the child. "Ah- Sans..." Papyrus sounded perplexed behind Frisk and his footsteps momentarily ceased. Frisk stopped at the back door and after flicking the lock up, threw it open where an angry rush of cold wind stung their body. For once their limbs seemed to be doing just what they wanted; They wanted to run far far away from all of those horrible nightmares. Thought didn't come to them, they just sprinted blindly from the back of the house, into the dark enclosure of the forest. Though they felt their legs wobble and lose their strength, and felt low twigs and branches snap against their shins, they still weren't the ones moving their legs. They definitely weren't the one hanging onto that knife.

"Sans...Why are you holding me back? I need to go after Frisk!" Papyrus trusted his brother, and so although the smaller skeleton only held a poofy arm out across his knees Papyrus didn't break through it, but stopped as he knew his brother wanted. Sans was a statue, his empty eyes watching the kitchen entrance. Tiny beads of sweat curled down the skeleton's skull. He didn't even breath. "Sans?" Papyrus insisted he have his brother's attention but was wholly ignored. In the growing moments of tense silence Papyrus had the chance to look around and see the two glowing souls floating, untethered in the air. A raw gasp ripped down into Papyrus' body, disbelief and now a greatly urgent impatience swelling in his chest.

"Toriel and Asgore." Sans explained, lowering his arm and tucking it into his coat pocket. Though the smaller skeleton was as still as a picture, inside he was shaking, quivering like an anxious vibration inhabited his very bones. Could he trust Frisk was really gone? Where they stood, not quite in the doorway of the kitchen, he couldn't see the back door they both heard slide open. He wasn't going to let Papyrus go after that and get himself killed.

"Frisk is in danger! Brother, let's go get them, quickly!" Papyrus only took a few steps, around Sans' side so he could see the short skeleton's face, and bent over sideways. Papyrus' face pleaded for assistance, the concern he held for Frisk glowing from his fearful expression. Papyrus had absolutely no idea of the danger he had just avoided. Frisk had been there, waiting to slaughter his brother. If Sans had been any later...He shut out the image taunting him in the back of his mind. A trembling sigh rattled out of him.

"Get Undyne and Alphys up. I'll be right back." Sans said and walked quickly into the kitchen, rounding the corner to the right to disappear behind the wall instead of heading diagonally towards the door.

"Sans!" Papyrus swung around the corner but there was nothing in the kitchen but the dusty pile of what was once a very sweet, loving boss monster. Papyrus looked to the open sliding door, the outside chill creeping into the house, leeching away its accumulated warmth bit by bit. Papyrus took strength in the bulk of his round chest piece and the way his gloves squeaked when he clenched his fists to steady their shaking. He knew he didn't have time to spare and yet that once simple exit suddenly felt daunting, like if he went through it after Frisk it'd mean his doom. Thankfully Papyrus didn't have to go alone. He turned around and ran upstairs to gather his friends.

 

 

A blur of green flashed in and out from behind the trees of the slumbering forest. Frantic, whimpering puffs of air followed clumsy, scuffing, footsteps and the rapid crunch of leaves. The knife in Frisk's hand seized the moonlight, emitting a haunting glare of white light as it recklessly slashed at threatening shadows. Sans watched Frisk run pointlessly, more concerned with keeping upright than where they were going. The small child's colourful figure shrank in the distance to his left and then there they came, still running from Sans' right. He followed them for a while until Frisk abruptly stopped amidst a thick brush of bushes and grass up to their waist. He watched them, analyzing the way their whole body shook but the hand that clutched that weapon remained firmly static, like it wasn't a part of their body at all. Frisk looked around, head whipping quickly side to side and then behind them. Sans remained still, far enough away he was sure the fencing of trees would conceal him. He didn't know what to do, if he should intervene at that moment or if it was his place to. He wanted to strike Frisk down for horrible, selfish reasons but if he did, would he even gain the things he wanted back? Or would everything loop back, just to play out exactly the same way again? Perhaps it already had and his hesitation was some kind of deja vu. Or perhaps he was just trying to avoid a fight. To decide what he had to do, Sans knew he'd have to return to the underground but would he regret not putting an end to things right then and there?

Lost in his swarming thoughts for a moment he didn't immediately realize Frisk was staring right at him. Through the thin slit between black tree trunks, off in the distance Frisk's eyes shot right out at Sans. Their red, luminous irises piercing through him in the darkness. A freezing cold sensation burst up his spine but he didn't dare move nor did he look away from the wide, crimson stare latching onto him. He truly feared if he looked away for even a second, Frisk would disappear and he'd be dead. Shriveled leaves crinkled as the wind lifted them and sent them scraping along the others discarded and stamped into the cold dirt.

Frisk backed away, first one step, then a tentative second and then they took off running again. This time Sans just watched their back as they shrank away from his view. He wasn't going to chase after them, and he wasn't going to try killing them. Even if he did, he doubted at this point it would do any good. He closed his fist tightly, balling up the bitterness fermenting in him and slammed it all into a tree trunk that stood beside him. The side of his fist hit the jagged bark with a heavy thud and the resonating ache that jolted up his humerus felt satisfying when anger threatened to swallow him whole. He was so close to a happy ending. He thought they had done it but it seemed that there really was no point to hoping anymore.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're gunna get longer....I split them up weird but I promise <3

Frisk had no idea if Sans was still following them. They had known since they left the house there was something just on their heels, snapping at their back that they couldn't seem to outrun. They saw blurry grey shadows in the trees they passed, birds leaping from their perches in an ominous cloud of squawking alarm. It was like the night wanted to swallow them whole, trying to drag them down with every tree root, wobbly rock, and steep hole in the ground. They had seen Sans, though, clear as day in the trees. His pale white bones took to the moonlight and gave him a ghostly glow. He still had no eyes, no tiny white pebbles of life to humanize the skeleton, just taunting emptiness watching Frisk. They were paralyzed when they caught him there and all he did was just stare back. He didn't seem real with the night cloaking him and his stark white head and gaping black eyes just _watching_ them. Frisk was scared to blink in fear when they opened their eyes Sans' curling grin would suddenly be two inches from their face. Their body luckily had the bravery to take off and nothing had happened but the more they moved without intending to, the more distant Frisk felt from themself. Like they no longer belonged inside their own form. It felt wrong and yet it didn't feel at all. Frisk's body didn't respond to the perverted distortion of their mind's control but felt like it had an agenda of its own.

Fatigue sapping the strength from Frisk's limbs had them stumble to a stop and kneel in the dirt. Tiny rocks and twigs stabbed up at their knees but they were unable to move and readjust themself. They felt something tiny drop against the back of their head and then felt a relieving reconnection when their arm reached back to feel coldness on their hair like they wanted it to. But even the movement of their fingers weren't theirs, they were being used and that realization came with a ghosting of disgust and terror. Frisk raised their head to look up at the sky where moonlight was draining behind the clouds. A pin sized droplet split on Frisk's nose, cold wetness gnawing on that spot. Another drop landed on their cheek and the sky rumbled. Drops of icy water came tumbling down in crescendoing succession, which seemed to motivate Frisk's body to move and take shelter underneath a pine tree, one of the only signs of green left in the forest. The pines scratched and poked the back of Frisk's neck but they remained hunched underneath its cover. The forest was far too dark to traverse and the rain aided the air in cutting right down to their bones.

Frisk drew into themself yet didn't move. They felt far away, like their body had a deep deep ocean they could just sink away into but instead were suspended in this weightless hold, incapable of moving. They wanted to look up, brush their hair back from their face, wrap their arms around themself to fend away the chill but they couldn't do anything. Actions that never once took any thought to do seemed impossible to perform, but it was twice as jarring watching their body do movements of its own accord.

Rain fell for a long time. The air grew musty and wet. The ground went soft and filled with puddles that pooled around Frisk's dirty, frozen feet. Occasionally, the sky would light up with a splintering beam of light followed shortly after by a furious boom that shook Frisk to their core every time. They wanted to wake up, they wanted to be in their nice warm bed where their feet were never cold because the blanket Asgore made them was so thick chill had no hope of creeping in. They wanted to see Asgore, and Toriel. The last thought they had of them was of those piles of dirt. That couldn't be the last they saw of them, Frisk couldn't accept that to be their last memory. They had to see them again. There was no way they could be dead. A strange, shrill chirp rang in Frisk's ears. It looped over and over, and they felt their shoulders shaking up and down with each sharp ring. They were startled to realize that sound was themself laughing. Their body was laughing, their voice was disjointedly giggling which was by far the most unpleasant experience of their life. They watched their body lurch forward and get on their knees, then they crawled out from under the somewhat helpful canopy of pines. The long, sharp knife they had slapped in the mud each time their hand rose up and dropped down. Water soaked into their pajamas, the mud rising up through their pants to their skin. Frisk stopped in front of a puddle, saw their hands jutting out below them to keep themself up above the shallow pool, and the rain drops distorting the water in rings. They saw the shadow of their head in the water, but in the darkness they couldn't see their face.

Lightning split across the sky with a simultaneous boom rumbling down to the earth. The forest floor was lit for just a second and Frisk saw their reflection illuminated in the water. Wide, excited, blood red eyes gazing at themselves, into themselves and a morbid, curling smile that seemed only possible if it was carved out of Frisk's flesh. They had never seen themself make a face like that before. They looked so mirthful, consumed in anticipation but those were the last emotions Frisk would ever feel in a time like this. That face was watching them, even as the lightning's flash faded Frisk knew that their face was still smiling at them in the water. The image of their body, looking not at itself but into itself, beyond the whole that was Frisk and purposely gazing at the disconnected being still inside, haunted them. What was inside of them, grinning like that? They felt they were not alone inside their own body. They felt...something crawling up their back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know my chapter titles are so creative ain't they? ;P


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh no....oh god no..." Alphys' brittle voice trembled, her hands unable to still as she tried desperately to preserve the two white souls of her friends in glass jam jars. She was terrified of dropping the heavy containers. Her claws couldn't seem to grip the smooth surface tightly enough and no matter how many times she turned the lid it wouldn't catch the ridges and screw around the top. "Nonononono." Tears spilled and fell down from behind her thick round glasses, making screwing the lid all the more difficult when she couldn't see what she was doing wrong.

Undyne stood in front of the large pile of dust knocked over in the living room, shocked immobile that her dear, precious friend was gone. Asgore, her king, that goofy weenie was gone. It hit her like a hammer to her gut that the monster was wiped from this world with so many unresolved regrets. His life was hardly settled. He was struggling every single day and now he'd never get another chance to right his wrongs and make amends with Toriel. She clenched her sharp teeth with a loud clack and squeezed her face together with tightly woven anger. How could he be gone? The strongest monster she had ever known, reduced to dust in his own home. How could this have happened? They were out of the underground, there was no more need for fighting. They were going to be happy. Undyne slammed her foot down, cracking right through the floorboards while screaming out to the cold, angry world.

"NGAAAAAHHHH ASGORE!!" She furiously scratched away the tears from her eyes, hiccuping and coughing when sobs pressed their way into her throat. Papyrus' hands shook while taking the jar from Alphys' rattling claws but he managed to screw the lids on for her.

"Undyne please...come with me to save Frisk." He said, his voice straining from his tightly compressed ribs.

"Isn't Frisk the one who did this? Didn't Frisk have the knife?" Undyne asked sharply, barely clutching the situation from Papyrus' hurried explanation while she was rising from a thick slumber.

"No! There's no way it was Frisk! We all know them, there is no way they would hurt anyone! It must be someone else! Someone who could now be after our friend!" Papyrus was antsy to rush after the small child supposedly left on their own to flee from the night. He couldn't abandon them, but wished strongly for accompaniment since whoever had killed Asgore and Toriel must have been tremendously powerful and he was afraid.

"You're right...there's no way." Undyne clenched her fists and gave a final guttural shout at the floor, her whole body tensing and hunching forward to expend her frustration. "Yeah! Let's go! We can't let Frisk get hurt!" Renewed vigor flashed in her eye when she lifted her head. She stomped into the kitchen with Papyrus and Alphys, in her cartoon fish printed t-shirt and Mew Mew Kissy Cutie boxer shorts ready to fight. "Take care of the king and queen, Alphys." Undyne told her, thankful that her tiny fearful girlfriend was not powerful enough nor daring enough to join them in hunting the murderer down.

"I-I-I will!" Alphys stammered, screwing on the lid of the second jar as quickly as she could before the soul's already dimming glow faded entirely. Papyrus and Undyne charged the back door, bumping Alphys in their haste who fumbled and almost dropped the soul jars on the floor. She clutched them to her chest for dear life, squeezing them like the absolutely precious things they were. "Be careful..."She whimpered, terrified that Undyne and Papyrus might not come back. She didn't want to lose another friend, or her beloved girlfriend to whatever threatened them. Undyne looked unbeatable, silhouetted against the dark night sky with her confident, powerful stance and wild fluffy mane of hair blowing in the wind. Alphys believed in her, that she could defeat anything and even protect Papyrus if things came down to it. Undyne was amazing so she had to have faith they would come back alright.

"Hold on guys." Sans' low voice came out of nowhere, and there he stood right beside the tiny dinosaur scientist like he'd been there all along. Papyrus jerked around, sighing sharply in relief.

"Sans! Where did you go? Are you coming with us to reclaim Frisk?" He asked, one foot out the door already.

"No...I think i'll stay behind and protect Alphys in case they come back." Undyne turned her head back to nod at Sans, her face grimly determined and thankful.

"Ah good idea brother! That's probably for the best, I doubt you could keep up with us anyways!"

"Yep that's right. I'd just slow you down. Hey, you should head left of the forest. I saw them going around it when they ran."

"Ah so they're headed out of the town! Thank you Sans!"

"LET'S GO!" Undyne shouted commandingly and dashed out into the start of a rain storm.

Alphys and Sans were left in the house, the loss of its occupants weighing heavily in the air. Alphys sniffled and collected the two jars in her arms, curling around them and pressing her face down against their sleek, lifeless surface. "Asgore....Toriel...." While she cried, Sans shuffled over to the back door and slid it shut, locking it for good measure though that'd hardly keep out an assailant determined enough. He watched Papyrus and Undyne dash off into the rain, swerving right by the forest entirely since their house was just on the border of the treeline. He sighed heavily, his shoulders hunching tiredly. He was able to shut his eyes for just a moment knowing Papyrus would be alright.

"Alphys can you come with me back to the underground?" Sans asked, not yet turning around to face the grieving monster. Alphys stared at his back, her tiny gasps and sniffles trailing off as confusion replaced her sorrow.

"Wh...wh-why would you want to go back there? Especially r-right now?" She asked, getting up despite her wobbling knees and placing the two jars on the kitchen table.

"I need to check something. We'll be fast I promise but I'll need you there Alphys." He turned his head slightly. Unable to see his comical grin behind his shoulder and hood Alphys could only see his large, tired eye socket and its tiny white pupil looking at her. He seemed serious and Alphys had an idea of what he wanted to do.

"I hope you have a shortcut...I don't want to be gone long." She said, fidgeting her claws together with soft little clicks. Sans turned around, his smile now shifting his expression to something more whimsical.

"I always have a shortcut. Time isn't something we have to waste after all." He approached Dr. Alphys and held out his bony hand to her which she took with her scaly one. Both of their palms were sweaty when they pressed together.

"G-got anything funny to say..t-t-to lighten the mood?" Alphys asked, smiling hopelessly over at Sans. He didn't say anything at first, nothing jovial really came to his mind.

"Why do I have to come up with the jokes? It'd be nice y'know if you gave me a hand here." Sans said, lifting their intertwined hands slightly. Alphys chuckled weakly as the two walked out of the kitchen.

"If I think of one I'll um...hand it to you."

"I just used hand..." Sans said, tone a little lighter.

"I tried...i-it's hard." Turning the corner towards the stairs they were suddenly inside Alphys' Lab in Hotland, facing her escalator slope to the upper floor. "Whoa..." Alphys stumbled, disoriented by the abrupt change in location and the seamless shift in her reality. It was as subtle as blinking and yet they were somewhere different entirely. Sans let go of Alphys and strode purposely down into her true laboratory.

"Um...w-what happened to your equipment?" She asked, waddling behind Sans down the stairs to the dark underbelly of the building.

"It's broken and yours is better anyways."

"W-would you say its...t-..tibia..eter?" Halfway through her attempted pun she realized how horribly weak it was but it was too late to unsay what she had said. Sans looked back at her, one eye lowered in skeptical amusement.

"No I wouldn't."

"Oh...okay." Alphys mumbled, ducking her head in shame as her face lit with a red hot flame. She followed Sans deep into the lab, each hall reminding her of the horrible things she had done in that basement. She could still hear their cries; the monsters' confused, tortured wails as they melted together and she hid upstairs unsure of what to do to help them. She was glad things were better since Frisk had come and given her the courage to reveal the truth to everyone. It had been so tiring to hide the Amalgamates from the underground and every time she went down to feed them the guilt cast by their sad, accusing faces left her shaking for hours. Sure they never said anything to her but she was certain they hated her for her botched experiments. At least they were back with the monsters that loved them.

"Do you...r-really think this is a t-threat to the timeline?" She asked as Sans led her into a dark room in the back of the lab. He flicked on a light and dozens of computer monitors sprang to life with shrill chimes.

"I dunno but finding out will let me know what I need to do next." He went to a long keyboard with repeating segments of keys each linked to two of the monitors in the line.

"What if it is? W-we don't even know who we're fighting."

"It's Frisk." Sans said in a lifeless monotone. He began typing on the very left segment of keys, bringing up their sensors and display of the timeline. A machine behind the monitors whirred. Blue lights encased in glass warmed up and shone. Segments spun, reflective surfaces on their flat ends glinting off the bright ceiling lights. It was shaped almost like a portal, curling like a 'U' with delicate spinning parts overtop the upper opening.

"O-of course it's not Frisk!" Alphys laughed nervously, her voice squeaking tensely. "A-and even if it was, what would you do? Kill them?" Alphys looked at Sans for immediate denial, which she did not receive. The skeleton was dead quiet, watching a thin white line go across a plain dark grey background on the screen, continuing to the next monitor and then the next in an even line. "Sans..." She wanted that denial, she wanted Sans to assure her he was not thinking of hurting Frisk. She couldn't bear the thought of the child coming to harm.

"There's a segment here...where it restarts. Look its overlapping." Sans ignored Alphys entirely, pointing at where the line on the screen stopped and then begin again from a point a little farther back in a different colour. It continued to that stopping point again and then snapped back to where it had restarted. The next line continued, stopping a little shorter and then going right back to that point. Line after coloured line overlapped each other as they moved forward and then froze as a new one rose from that one clean starting point. Old colours were covered up, the timeline seemed like it wasn't making any progress. Alphys was worried about Frisk but intrigued by the data their machine was gathering.

"D-does that m-mean the timeline stops there? It c-can't seem to go on..." The light from the screens glared off of Alphys' glasses while Sans' eyes had long disappeared. His empty sockets watched the screens intently.

"It's still trying. The timeline is still moving it's just...repeating."

"But look how many times its going back! C-could i-it be stuck in a...a loop?"

"Yeah...it looks stuck. That point," Sans pointed at that one clearly defined part of the timeline where all the new lines came from, "From that point something happens and the timeline jumps back to that point." Alphys approached the keyboards and began typing, the lines appearing faster and the machine behind the monitors groaning from the stress of its hurried calculations.

"Seems like someone's having a bad time." Alphys heard Sans mumble but didn't press on it. He always understood the flow of time far better than she ever did. It was so confusing and mismatched. She could analyze and memorize 50 different plotlines for her favourite anime and build all sorts of impressive robotic machines but the concept of spacetime eluded her. Which was fine because Sans was there to do what he did best and she was more than capable in her own work...except when she failed. She suddenly felt sluggish, her shoulders growing heavy and a melancholy ache tightening in her chest. "Hey," Alphys looked over to Sans who was smiling at her, his eyes slightly drooped sympathetically, "this isn't the time to be moping." Alphys offered Sans a weak smile for his effort.

"I'm just thinking...Asgore and Toriel are both gone...they're really gone. Nothing can ever bring them back. A-and I'm here...what can I do? I-I just mess everything up. If even one of them were still around i-instead o-of me maybe...this would be solved already." She hung her head, staring down at her claws perched over the dusty grey keys.

"It isn't that easy Alphys." Sans said and when she looked up he was staring at the monitors again where the loop's starting point had advanced slightly forward but went back in rapid bursts. "Who says you can't help? We don't know what's going to happen. Maybe this is something you'd be even better for." Alphys snorted and watched the series of lines repeating on top of each other suddenly stop chugging back and continue onwards for a while only to halt entirely.

"Yeah right." She waited for it to loop back, for a new colour to race forward in a desperate attempt to get farther than the others but no more came. The timeline just stopped

"You'll do everything you can to help right? No matter what, you'll give your all?" Beads of sweat on Sans' skull caught the shine of the monitor's light, and the forced shadows from the ceiling and computers dragged the weary trenches in his bones deeper. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and lowered his head to stare at the ground where shadows engulfed his face entirely.

"O-of course!" Alphys looked back at the worrying display. She typed and zoomed the timeline out but nothing seemed to be looping or moving forward. The machine was whirring loudly, telling them that despite the lack of visible results it was still working diligently. Something was going to happen that would stop their very existence and end their world. But what could it be? Could Frisk really be responsible for this? Could they really stop them?

"Hey Alphys...knock knock." Sans said, still looking down, his voice soft. The doctor was confused, why Sans would joke at a time like this but answered him. She had asked for it.

"W-who's there?"

"The end of the world." He lifted his head up. His eyes were empty and sweat poured heavily down the sides of his skull. A subtle rattle was muffled within the confines of his puffy jacket.

Leaving the lab, the two had a greatly different air about them. Before, they were somber but hopeful. Dread checked them at the door, gnawing away at their determination and strength.

"Sans I can certainly try b-but...I can't guarantee it'd make any d-difference."

"Nothing we do might change anything at this point. We can't really afford to wait until things go back." The two kicked rocks and scraped by in the warm dry dirt. The heat of the magma below them was mildly comforting if only that their current setting wasn't chaotic. "Even if you only make it so difficult they can't go on...it still saves us. Even if we can't ever get back what we had...I just wanna keep going."

"Are you really...going to fight Frisk? I still can't b-believe they'd d-d-do this."

"It's still so early I might not have to. Maybe the kid will snap out of this and that'll be it." It was a vain hope, but one Sans humored. "I'll keep an eye socket out for them but if things get messy I'll need you on clean up, Alphys." It made Alphys feel disgustingly happy that Sans needed her, that she could be helpful in some way and desired. The situation was the absolute worst but even so, she wanted to feel special and she hated it.

"I really hope we can help Frisk..." Alphys said her fragile wish quietly, worried it'd shatter if it crashed into their harsh reality. With all of her heart she just wanted her family back, when they were all so happy. It seemed so long ago when barely hours had passed since everything changed. Something must have happened. Something set Frisk up, or they felt they had no choice. Their friend would never betray them and she worried Sans was too quick to turn against the child.

"Why would Frisk need help?" A chirping, light little voice piped in. Alphys and Sans turned around, both startled by the unexpected appearance of a little flower with wide, fanning yellow petals and a happy smiling face in its pale center. "Howdy!" Sans' expression soured, as much as a permanently smiling expression could. Alphys' hands and the back of her neck suddenly felt clammy. Her stomach rolling about uneasily.

"A f-f-f-f-flower...?" The little flower was familiar to her, its face and voice something she could recall echoed in a dream. Sans too, felt like he knew this creature, and it wasn't a welcoming recollection.

"I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower. I'm the only one living in the underground now that you all moved out! Why would you two come back here?" The flower asked with a deceptively cutesy and friendly voice. He smiled up at the two monsters from the ground, seeming to be just a curious, innocent creature.

"Do you know Frisk?" Sans asked, latching onto the implicating way this flower informally referred to the human.

"Of course I know Frisk! We're great friends! Or...we were...until they left me." His eyes fell, yet the flower's face still seemed purposely cheery.

"A golden...f-flower..." Alphys knew where she had seen this flower before. How could she have forgotten? She created that thing! She nursed the determination into its roots with her own hands and brought it to life. She was the one who gave that empty thing the will to live.

"That's right! I'm a golden flower! Though I'm the only talking one in the underground! Hee hee! I'm pretty special if you ask me!" The flower stuck its tongue out and winked, acting playful to the two wary monsters. Sans noticed the gravity of Alphys' expression: the way her eyes bugged out and her oversized front teeth dug into her bottom lip, nipping off skin anxiously.

"Hey buddy, sorry but we're in a hurry here. You wouldn't be _leaf_ the workload we've got piled up on us all of a sudden." Sans winked back at the flower, his eyes dull but unthreatening. Flowey's smile dropped, just slightly.

"Ha....ha....never heard that one before." He laughed dryly. "But hey what were you saying about Frisk? C'mon pal it's been a long time since I've even _seen_ anyone. Why not humor me with a chat?" Both Alphys and Sans got a horrible feeling in their gut not to trust this little plant and both of them intended to listen to it. Things were going wrong far too quickly recently and this could've been just another set back.

"Sorry we were just leaving. Another _thyme_ buddy." Sans gave the plant a limp wave and turned away from it to go with Alphys following him eagerly. Suddenly, a series of small, white, magical bullets appeared around Sans' body in a ring. They circled him like falling dominos. Alphys jumped back, squeaking in surprise. Sans' face went dark and his body tensed rigidly.

"Always with the plant jokes. Most of them don't even make sense! I always hated your sense of humor." Flowey said. His voice dropped the charm and came out more chipped and ragged.

You must be confused, pal. I've never seed you before in my life. I'm sure I'd remember you." Sans joked in a strained voice, not daring to move with those bullets looming around him. Alphys knew Sans was incredibly weak. She bet even one of those bullets would be enough to kill the skeleton. She wasn't confident that she could do anything though, and stood uselessly, trembling by the side of the path.

"You've been wrong before, like about how to finish me off." Flowey's face seemed to be melting. His mouth crooked up in a dripping smile into his empty eyes. "You never could get rid of me for good. I always came back and I always took away the one thing you loved the most from you." Flowey's face changed in an instant to a wide set of teeth grinning ecstatically while its eyes stared hard at Sans' back. Sans forced air out sharply from his teeth. He began to sweat again.

"Y'know oddly enough this isn't making us wanna trust you right now." He said while his body rattled softly.

"Golly! You're right! Maybe if you hadn't been so difficult I wouldn't have had to resort to this. All I wanted to know was how my good friend, Frisk was doing." The bullets drew in closer. Sans' head ducked down like he was trying to shrink into himself. "Are you feeling a little more up to sharing now, Sans? I'm still open to chat if you are!" The flower winked and smiled, its voice back to a friendly chirp again. Sans didn't say anything for a long time. Each second that went by sent Alphys' heart another beat faster. Finally she snapped,

"They killed two of our friends and ran off!" She shouted, desperate to save Sans and get this flower off their backs.

"Killed?" Flowey looked genuinely shocked and then his eyes went empty and that smile melted onto his face again. "You mean they actually killed somebody? That's funny..." He spoke slowly, each word a gravelly hiss that bubbled in his throat. Then, the flower smiled brightly, like he wasn't holding Sans at bullet point. "Considering they'd never do that! Are you sure you've got the right kid? I mean I wouldn't mind if Frisk suddenly started murdering you all after your supposed 'happy ending' but they just seemed so determined to be everyone's friend, they even spared me! I just can't see it."

"It's true! Sans saw it! Frisk was in the house with a knife in their hand waiting for Papyrus to go down the stairs after they had already killed Toriel and Asgore!" All mirth from Flowey's face was slapped off, replaced with shaken surprise.

"W h a t ?  T o r i e l  a n d  A s g o r e ?  A r e  y o u  s u r e ?" Flowey spoke very precisely, his tone dead in the ground.

"We came here because I needed to see what would happen. We can't save them, but I had the worst feeling in my bones that I had to check on. If we don't stop whatever Frisk is planning to do the world is going to end." Total silence followed. Not a breath was drawn, nor word said. Then, the bullets surrounding Sans drew back and fell to the ground like scattered coins. They faded away, freeing Sans. Instead of running, he turned to face Flowey. He was confused as to why he was being let go until he saw the mortified look the flower was giving him. Flowey's face was pinched painfully, eyes wide, mouth quivering as perspiration rolled down his face. His stem curled away from the two larger monsters cowardly. His entire body began to shake.

"End huh?" He said in a cheery, shaking voice. "That doesn't seem like a thing Frisk could do. Then again...killing Toriel and Asgore...that's also not a thing Frisk _would_ do. Or your goofy brother. None of that seems like something Frisk would **ever** do."

Sans caught on that this flower knew a lot more than the two of them did, about things it had no business knowing. The little thing was so unnervingly familiar but he just couldn't remember where he had seen it. Sans was quickly defensive that Flowey knew his brother but then something rang in the back of his mind. His brother had said a few times that a flower had been talking to him, saying things when nobody was around. Perhaps that flower, was this one.

"So what does that mean?" Alphys asked, curling over to get a better look at Flowey. Flowey straightened up, biting back a nervous grimace and looking down.

"Ha....ha....ha I don't know..." Flowey smiled crookedly, big eyes lost in the ground. "Why do I feel like this? My whole body feels like it's screaming, telling me to get away. It's not you though..." Flowey looked up, his smile seeming painfully stretched on his mouth. "Something bigger than you...though everything seems big from down here." Flowey's eyes drifted downwards. He shook so badly he was almost vibrating in place. "When you're bouncing around the timeline so much...sometimes things get mixed up...you get mixed up." Sans stiffened and took a shuffling step forward.

"What?"

"You get dreams sometimes...dreams that make you wake up screaming but a few seconds later you forget why. You can go on with your day with no idea what the horrible thing you saw was...but the thought of it still makes you feel _sick_." Flowey looked up at Sans with a wobbly, weak hearted smile. "Do you ever get dreams like that?" Sans' eyes were gone and he was sweating just as much as Flowey was. The two seemed to share something dark, something Alphys didn't understand. They stared at each other silently for a moment. Nobody said anything, the tension took to the sweltering heat and Alphys began to sweat as well. She couldn't take it anymore.

"You...are you the reason the timeline kept going b-back?" Alphys asked, trying to gather anything she could even clutch at from what this flower was saying. Flowey looked at Alphys on a delay, still smiling, still terrified.

"Before Frisk got here those readings were definitely me. I used to plant little...seeds of my time and _SAVE_ exactly where and how I was...When I was about to die I'd go back and do it a different way." Flowey had calmed down a little bit, but still worriedly stared out into open space. "But ever since Frisk fell down into the underground, I've lost that ability. The world isn't shaped by me anymore. Through their determination they now make the world move forward...or fall back. They can reset it as many times as they want. I don't know how many timelines they've lived through: coming down here...befriending you all, fighting me...but I get the feeling this isn't their first one."

Sans stepped forward harshly, dust flowing up from his slipper. He raised a hand at Flowey and his right eye ignited with a ghostly blue flame. Flowey looked over at him blankly, taking in that Sans had tried to attack him in some way.

"You can't throw me around, idiot. I don't have a soul for you to grab onto."

"How can you not have a soul? How can you have power over the timeline? To make it go back and restart over and over. How does Frisk have that power?" Sans was shaking, his hand still extended in the air, wavering back and forth. This flower, and Frisk were the reason he couldn't see light anymore. The reason he couldn't hope anymore. Ever since he saw that reading long ago with those overlapping lines and realized how many times the timeline had already reset, he was never the same. He couldn't try anymore knowing it could all be gone in an instant. Why make a big snowman when tomorrow it could be like you never even tried to make it? Why put your effort into doing a good job, take pride in a hard day's work when the exact same day would start again, and again forever? He couldn't believe Frisk, his _friend_ , Frisk would do that to him. That they would torture him like that, never letting him believe in a future because they kept going back. He had believed that things were finally moving forward on the surface. That they would at last just get to live the rest of their lives. Foolishly, he had hoped again only for all of this to come crashing down on him. He didn't believe in freedom anymore.

"I-I can explain that I think..." Alphys said quietly, meekly stepping closer to the two of them. Sans turned his head to stare at her, his one shining eye intimidating coupled with that wide grin. It made her feel uneasy but she knew Sans wouldn't hurt her. "This flower....I made this flower a long time before Frisk fell down." Sans was silent and he lowered the hand he had pointed at Flowey. "Asgore told me to find a way to simulate a human soul from monster souls. He wanted me to do whatever I could to break the barrier. Y-you um...know most of what happened...with the other monsters." Her eyes shifted down and she clicked her claws together nervously. "I injected them with Determination and they melted together...w-well I also had to make a vessel for the souls I-I hoped to make. Monsters can't take in other monster souls after all. I-I um...tried a lot of d-different things, i-injecting them all w-with Determination to see if they would take a soul. Finally, I tried....Flowey and i-it worked. The flower I used came to life. It had the will to live! B-but...it um...disappeared and I haven't seen it since until now."

"Wrong. You've seen me before." Flowey spoke up, glaring at Alphys with a mixture of bitterness and sorrow. "In this timeline. I followed Frisk through the underground and while all of you gave your big friendship speech in front of the king I stole the human souls he had collected. I became powerful and captured you all. I tried to kill Frisk. When all the monsters of the underground came to cheer them on I took their souls, giving me enough power to become god."

"Pfft what??" Alphys snorted skeptically. She had trouble buying Flowey's ludicrous tale but Sans seemed to have been taking it seriously. She had no recollection, Sans had no recollection. Neither of them knew anything but a blank, empty space in their memories, and Frisk's name which they were never told.

"I turned into my true form...who I really am and fought Frisk thinking they were somebody else. They saved me from this awful coldness I've lived with inside of me and showed me love." Flowey's voice shook and tears began to well up in his eyes. "I don't remember what that love felt like, but it was so nice to not be a flower for once. Frisk held me...and told me it'd be okay...because after breaking the barrier and setting you all free I turned back into this." Flowey hiccuped and hung his head while his tears evaporated on the ground.

"You set us all free?" Sans asked doubtfully. Flowey's head shot up, launching his tears into the air.

"I don't deserve any of the credit! Without Frisk...w-without Frisk I would have never..." The little flower sobbed, his stem rolling and jerking each time. "I was so tired of the same thing...over and over and over again. I wasn't always like this! I used to be your friend...but I remember every single restart. Every single time I was content with the world something would happen and I'd be right back where I started. I couldn't take hearing the same jokes...th-the same thank yous and heartfelt speeches...so I started trying something else...I started killing you all." The words chilled the air for a moment, overcoming the thick heat of the lava boiling below where they stood. "I did that for a long time, just for something different and I changed. It became easier to do it...fun even...but eventually even that got old. I couldn't do anything, everything was the same...I-I felt so empty!" Flowey cried in distress, tears quietly rolling down his face.

Sans shared a look with Alphys, of horror and confusion. Neither of them knew what to do with the information bombarding them.

"Frisk was something different...it turns out something very different. Their determination was greater than mine and I couldn't control time anymore. They only used it though to get to the end and free you all. You want to know how we can move time around? It's the determination the doc gave me...and the determination Frisk already had in their heart!The will to live...and the will to save you all. So...hate me all you want...but...d-don't...hate Frisk. They couldn't have done anything wrong....th-they couldn't have." Flowey sniffled in silence for a while, Alphys and Sans absorbing everything that was said for a long time. Flowey eventually calmed down to a calm, somber expression. Sans sat down on the ground and put his bony hands on his skull while Alphys stood gazing thoughtfully at the serenely rolling magma pooling down below.

"You said...Frisk had done this before." Sans said at last, the sound of his voice cutting after so long in just silence.

"The way they acted...solved every puzzle on their first try, how they hardly even died. It seems to me like they did it all before and then restarted." Flowey said, their voice grated and rough from crying.

"Why? If they saved us why would they go back?"

"Maybe they wanted to see you again, to relive the first time they met you all or maybe to fix a mistake. Maybe the last time they didn't save everyone but this time they did and they stuck with it."

"Then why are they killing people now? Why is Frisk suddenly attacking us if they're finally living their perfect ending?" Sans didn't understand, and although he now knew so much he felt even worse for knowing it. It didn't help them in the slightest to know. It was overwhelming and Sans was just growing angry that he didn't get it.

"I don't know..." Flowey said quietly. Sans looked up at the flower, empty eye sockets swallowing his gaze. "I really don't know!"

"I don't believe you pal. You seem to know a lot about everything. You've killed us all before after all, maybe you're holding out on us so you can see us burn." A blue iris flashed in Sans' right eye and Flowey flinched away fearfully.

"I'm not! If I wanted to kill you all I'd leave the underground and get enough human souls to attain my real form! After everything that's happened...I can't bring myself to ruin what they've worked for. I'm sad but...for Frisk I'm willing to stay here...forever."

"You really care...a-about Frisk don't you?" Alphys asked, walking over to Flowey and kneeling on the ground beside him. Flowey looked up at her sad, shy smile and nodded.

"They're the friend I always wished I had." Thinking of Frisk's warmth and their kind smile made Flowey remember the ghost of joy he once had in his heart. It was one of his favourite memories. One he didn't want to ever give up.

"Then will you help us?" Sans asked with calm, white pupils looking at Flowey pleadingly. Flowey turned to Sans in shock.

"Yeah! Please Flowey, help us save Frisk!" Alphys asked as well and Flowey turned his unsuspecting surprise to her.

"You can remember every time the timeline goes back right?" Slowly, Sans was understanding it all. He was putting things together though a solution was far off. Still, there was hope again and though he felt foolish he wanted to believe.

"Yes." Flowey said, nodding to the skeleton.

"Somewhere in the future there's a point where the timeline keeps jumping back, repeatedly. I think I know why and I want you to be there when it does."

"You're going to fight Frisk." Flowey frowned, his eyes hard and serious. The skeleton nodded.

"If Frisk was able to save you from your rampage...maybe we can save them. There has to be something wrong so every time they go back, I'll need you to tell me what happened. If we try everything... maybe we can get them back."

"Can you really do that to them though? Kill Frisk repeatedly until we get an answer?" Sans looked down and clenched his hands before shoving them into his pockets.

"I only have to do it once...the other me's won't remember how many times it's happened and I'll just...try not to think about it."

"Sans..." Alphys didn't know what to say, but she felt horrible. She called out to the skeleton like somehow another plan would present itself if she just disputed this one. Nobody had anything else.

"I still need you Alphys, to do what I asked." Sans looked at Alphys with hard eyes and with a gulp she nodded.

"Okay Sans. I'll do my best. J-just call me when you need it." Alphys got up from the ground and gave Flowey a wry smile. "Do your best Flowey, please. We all want to help Frisk." She headed back into the lab, shuffling slowly as she hunched over her fidgeting claws. In a way it was comforting being back home at the lab, and in another way it brought back all her old nightmares accompanied by haunting new ones.

Flowey was left alone with Sans, and although he had agreed to help him, the little flower couldn't shake his nervousness after too many memories of the skeleton killing him.

"So...um..." Flowey started and stopped, trailing off awkwardly when nothing to talk about came to mind. Sans didn't seem like he was going to move. He was just staring at Flowey with his empty eyes once again. "Um....eheh we should get going shouldn't we?" He asked, unable to keep looking at Sans' eye sockets. It seemed like the darkness just sent spiders burrowing into Flowey's stem. He felt so...judged.

"Tell me something...buddy." Sans said, the sound coming from his skull but no part of him moved. His voice sounded almost detached when he didn't add even a shrug or tilt of his head to go along with the words.

"Uh...y-yeah?" Flowey leaned away from the skeleton, who seemed larger and larger the longer he stared at him.

"In any of those timelines you did...did you ever kill my brother?" A shiver went through Flowey's petals. The look on his face gave him away instantly but he wasn't sure he wanted to say those words to Sans. If he didn't though, and Sans knew, he wouldn't trust him. Steeling himself, Flowey admitted it.

"Yes...I did." Sans was so still for a moment he wasn't even living. His rocky composure bothered Flowey greatly when they knew that the skeleton could shift at any moment. With Frisk in control, if Flowey died, he wouldn't go back. It was killing Flowey on its own how Sans didn't say anything. It was eating away at him very visibly.

"Let's go." Sans reached out and seized Flowey's stem, squeezing it tightly enough that his head could've popped off. He yanked him from the ground which jarred the little flower horribly and made him cry out in pain.

"Ow! Don't hold me so tightly you jerk!" Flowey wiggled around unhappily in Sans' hand and was left ignored as Sans began walking. Flowey squeezed his eyes shut and thrashed his head around in a fit. When he opened his eyes there was dimly lit house around them. There was a big t.v against the wall, and to the left of it was a door with a wide assortment of shoes thrown in front of it. In front of the t.v was a massive plush couch that seemed sunken from the weight it carried. Across from the door were some stairs that led upwards. Sans turned them around and took Flowey into a kitchen where a large pile of dust sat on the off white tiled floor. He was held in front of two glass jars left on a brown kitchen table. Inside the jars floated two white monster souls. Flowey knew immediately who they were and distantly, he wanted to cry for them. He realized though he was only able to cry for himself. He recognized how awful he was for being unable to mourn his parents' deaths but he felt absolutely nothing for them even at their loss.

"Why are you showing them to me?" Flowey asked, glaring sharply backwards at Sans.

"You made it seem like you knew 'em. I figured you might've wanted to say something." Sans paused and inspected the unamused frown Flowey cast his way. "Guess not." Sans didn't know who Toriel and Asgore were to Flowey but Flowey bet if he did, he would hate him for his cold indifference.

"So are you going to carry me around like this the whole time or-?" Sans took Flowey outside to a wide grassy yard that opened up to the forest in front of them. The lawn was kept diligently with flowers precisely placed and tended to, and hedges trimmed into...some kind of shape. They were farther away and the moon's light was just barely enough to see. Rain clung heavily to the air, revitalizing Flowey while also chilling him coupled with the sharp wind. He hoped Sans wouldn't leave him outside. As if reading his thoughts Sans brought Flowey to a gold clay flowerpot already softly packed with dirt and stuffed him down into it.

"Ow! I'm helping you out here you stupid blue jerk!" Flowey quickly burrowed his roots though the dirt was freezing and his whole body began to stiffen from the shock. Sans then backed away and headed back inside. "Wait! Don't leave me out here! It's too cold! Bring me inside!" Flowey heard the door slide shut followed by a soft click of the lock latching. He shivered in the cold flowerpot and sighed. Sure, in a way he deserved this treatment for everything he had done but he wasn't big enough to welcome the punishment nor accept it. Flowey curled into himself, folding his petals over his face and tried to sleep. He had fluttering thoughts about seeing Frisk one more time.

 


	5. Chapter 5

The sun rose late in the day, the morning wind carrying the nip from that evening. As pastel pinks and reds bled into the clouds, Undyne and Papyrus trudged back home from the forest. Both of them were almost entirely coated in mud. Undyne slumped against Papyrus, seemingly unable to stabilize her ankles when she stepped or keep her head up as it lolled and bobbled around limply. The tall skeleton gripped her arm over his shoulders and kept a hand on her back. He repeated encouragement to her to give her the strength she needed to close the short distance left from their home. The two were exhausted after searching for Frisk the entire night without reward. They had been soaked by the rain and then dried icily by the wind. Papyrus had a great tolerance for temperature change and hardly felt any discomfort, but Undyne was very sensitive to how hot or cold her environment was. Her head spun with each lurching step and an invasive warmth bloomed behind her eyes.

"The house is right there Undyne! Keep walking!" Papyrus said quietly, not speaking softly by choice, his voice was shot almost silent.

 "I...can see it...nghhh!" She kept her eye locked onto the back door, her goal. If she could just get inside she would be safe and could rest. Hearing the two speak, Flowey woke up. He unfurled his shriveled petals and squinted at the bleary world. Blinking a few times crisped his view of Papyrus and Undyne slowly approaching.

 "Hey! Papyrus!" Flowey called to the kindhearted skeleton, waving back and forth in the pot to catch his attention. At first, Papyrus thought he was imagining someone calling his name. He blinked rapidly like he was reconnecting to reality. His head darted side to side until he spotted Flowey.

 "Ah! Fl...uh...Flowery! It has been a while! What are you doing here?" He asked scratchily, momentarily halting their trek to the back door which made Undyne groan loudly in protest.

 "Well, I'm here to help you guys of course but your brother left me out here to freeze! Can you take me inside?"

 "YES!!!" Undyne cried out, eager for anything that got her through that door.

 "Sans!! How could he?" Papyrus dragged Undyne over to Flowey's flower pot and sacrificed a hand on his fish friend to scoop Flowey up. He brought both of them inside, setting Flowey down onto the empty kitchen table so he could shut the door and preserve the warmth that had reaccumulated in the house overnight. Undyne groaned loudly again, overcome with satisfaction that she could feel warmth. Most of her body was painfully numb but the pins and needles she felt meant that soon circulation would return to her limbs and chase away the cold. "Sans!" Papyrus tried to call for his brother, but when he strained his voice all that came out was a squeak of his brother's name. He coughed, cleared his throat and tried again but got the same result.

Papyrus dragged Undyne into the living room where he laid her down on the large couch, pillows already stacked on one side for her head. He grabbed a blanket laid conveniently atop the back of the couch and put that over her which she shivered against and then snuggled into desperately. "Sans!" Papyrus wheezed out his brother's name again, cupping his hands by his mouth to make the weak noise travel. He noticed there were two large garbage bags by the front door that he decided he would inspect later. With Undyne momentarily taken care of, Papyrus wanted to collapse. His bones were weary and his eyes felt heavy. He ached all over but he didn't want to sleep until he had updated somebody on what had happened that night. He quickly grew worried by his brother's absence, wondering if perhaps Frisk had come back and....No. Papyrus believed in Frisk. His friend would never do that. Sans had to be wrong.

 With his springy legs, Papyrus lept up the stairs three at a time. He checked Frisk's door first, as if by some miracle the child would still be curled up in their bed. Sadly, the comforter was pulled away from empty blue sheets. Papyrus took a brief detour to look at the little mementos and toys in Frisk's room. Frisk had purposely arranged their living space to remind them of each of their friends. There were gifts they were given, photographs hung in frames of better times, pillows and lamps shaped like fish or bones and other similarly themed items. Frisk's family had painted the walls dark blue and had placed glowing stickers on the ceiling and walls to resemble the luminous caves in the underground. Frisk had always said that Waterfall calmed them and so their room was lovingly modeled for that. Papyrus remembered how fun it had been to work with his friends on that project. The memory had turned dark and heavy when he realized two of the people from that memory were gone, forever. His eyes drifted downwards somberly and he noticed there was a broken plate on Frisk's floor. The squished remains of an untouched butterscotch cinnamon pie melted down over the pieces.

Papyrus shuffled onwards tiredly with tears in his eyes. He checked Toriel's room, and Asgore's, then Alphys' and Sans' before, at last his and Undyne's. His racecar bed was sloppily made with a corner of the comforter pulled back invitingly. He wondered why his bed was made, since he had thrown the sheets aside to investigate the noises he heard in the kitchen the previous night. He had been out the entire evening which left him no opportunity to organize his room. Papyrus could doubt the convenience but that didn't stop it from beckoning him with its warmth and softness. Just looking at it made Papyrus feel brittle and heavy. "Sans?" He squeaked again, longing dearly for the comfort of his brother's safety. Alphys was nowhere to be found either but the house was clean. There was no more dust anywhere so Papyrus could hope they were alright and had just stepped out. Regretfully, he turned his back on the tempting picture of his bed and left his room. Just when he was wanted, Sans was there in the hall. "Sans!" Papyrus cried like air through a broken pipe. He bent down and scooped his brother up into his arms. The soft squish of his brother's puffy coat was greatly soothing.

 "Hey Pap, I figured you'd wanna rest when you got back but I'm here, don't worry." Papyrus nuzzled into the soft fluff of his brother's hood, pressing his arms so tightly around him he could feel the much smaller frame of the tiny skeleton under all that padding. Sans wound his arms around Papyrus right back, squeezing his head tightly.

 "We failed brother...we searched all night but couldn't find Frisk!" Papyrus' confidence was blown after such a tiresome failure. "I had no idea they were so fast. We sprinted all over the edge of the town but didn't even get a hint of them anywhere!" Finally, Papyrus let Sans down onto the floor and sniffled. He wiped frustrated tears from his eyes with the back of his fist.

"Ah...sorry to hear that bro. Don't worry about last night right now okay? Just get some sleep." Sans felt a little guilty hearing the strain in Papyrus' voice and seeing his mud soaked body but felt better that he got to actually see his brother again.

"I'm so tired, Sans but I don't know if I can sleep! Frisk is out there by themself! Undyne looks like she's sick from the weather and I can't help but worry that Frisk could be worse!!" Sans put a hand on Papyrus' hip to gently guide him back into his room.

"The kid is tough Papyrus, and resourceful. One night won't kill 'em but if we want to keep looking we're going to need you and Undyne at full strength." He reasoned and Papyrus nodded in agreement.

"You are right...even if I want to go back outside and find them, I have to regain my strength."

"That's right, so get into bed sleepy bones." Sans grinned up at the unhappy pout Papyrus managed to give him.

 "Sleepy bones..." Papyrus grumbled at the childish nickname thrown his way. He would not spare Sans the attitude just because he was tired. He stumbled over to the bright red racecar frame of his bed and slid into the parted covers that curled softly over him. He was immediately cushioned and safe and unable to cling to consciousness any longer. He rolled onto his back and began to snore. Sans tucked Papyrus' hand which had fallen out from the bed back beside him and pulled the covers up dotingly to the skeleton's jawbone. He watched his brother's weary face, seemingly dragged down because of how tired he was. Papyrus had worked so hard, the evidence was all over him and Sans always admired that. He was so glad Papyrus was alright and back home. For the moment, though bad times were had and coming, things were okay. He took solace in the few monsters safe and resting nearby.

While gazing at Papyrus' snoozing face, he thought back to Flowey, who he knew was now sitting on the kitchen table. How many times had someone killed his brother? How many times had he failed to protect him? How many Sans' had to watch their brother turn to dust? He knew if he dwelled on it it'd tear him apart but he couldn't help his wandering mind. He reached out and lightly grazed his finger bones across Papyrus' smooth skull, careful not to wake him though in this state he doubted he could. Although he had never seen it, never known a world without his brother in it, the thought of all those timelines made him feel miserable and lonely. His brother was right in front of him and he missed him. Sans just watched his brother, alive and safe for a little while before sniffling and heading downstairs.

 "..."

 "...hey"

 "..hey! Blue puff!"

 ".........HEY!" Flowey began to shout for Sans despite hearing the snoring of a well deserved rest from the other room. Once he got loud enough, Sans emerged from the kitchen entranceway, grinning cheerily though his eyes were low and impatient. "Thanks for leaving me outside all night bonehead! I almost froze to death!" Flowey growled, shaking angrily in his flowerpot. Sans shrugged and went to see what was in the fridge.

"I figured you'd be fine. Besides I needed a capable lookout while Papyrus was gone." Inside the fridge were the two jars of Toriel and Asgore's souls already faded and see through. On a lower shelf were some plastic containers with labeled leftovers in them and assorted drinks. Sans scanned all the shelves for a while before shutting the door without getting anything.

"You're a sentry." Flowey said through chattering teeth, the dirt they were planted in not warming up fast enough.

"I'm many things buddy, but my capability is debatable. Ask my brother, I'm barely fit to be a professional slacker." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and then eyed the massive forgotten pie left on the countertop. His shoulders drooped as he sighed but he went to get a plastic set of steps so he could reach the counter.

"I don't have any doubts about your abilities." Flowey squinted at Sans as he set the little plastic stairs down in front of the pie and climbed up them so he loomed overtop the counter space. Flowey had a large collection of horrible memories thanks to the skeleton and knew he was more than what he appeared to be.

"You know, you're right. I used to sell a mean 'dog." Sans looked around the counter, turning his head left and right and then got down from the stairs. He checked the drawers for something to cut the pie with.

"Are you looking for a knife?" Flowey asked which made Sans stop cold. The knife in particular he was looking for, was undoubtedly the one Frisk had run off with. The one they had stabbed Toriel and Asgore with. That thought made Sans feel sick. He shut the drawer he had been looking in and lowered his eyes with tense sadness. Settling for a butter knife, Sans climbed back atop the mini stairs and cut two slivers of the pie out. He put them both on plates with forks and carried them out of the kitchen. Flowey was left with the nostalgic scent of his mother's butterscotch cinnamon pie wafting his way. It wasn't even sad at that point, just bitter.

Sans brought one piece of pie to Papyrus and Undyne, leaving the plate somewhere near their sleeping spot where it'd be easily noticed when they awoke. Sans watched Undyne sleep and wondered if Papyrus was right about her getting sick after searching the town all night. In his attempt to protect his brother, he had made Undyne suffer. The guilt didn't sink too deeply since both of them had survived the night. He got Undyne some water and cold pills which he left near the pie for her as well. Though the house was clean and there was no longer gruesome dust piles sitting on the floor the missing members of their family left a gaping hole in the living room. It seemed far too large without them. Toriel would never bake another pie, or teach another class. Asgore's garden would wilt and overgrow. Sans thought about maybe taking over their jobs himself, maintaining their presence but the idea just made him feel tired and far less motivated to actually do it. Sans was tempted to lay down for a little while but he didn't think he could sleep knowing the things he knew, and the danger lurking in that forest. Sleeping had usually been a comfort for him, and yet he was both exhausted and far too wired to actually relax. He had no idea where Frisk was at that point. They were given a whole night to distance themself so they could be anywhere in the town. He just hoped the kid didn't cause too much damage before they could track them down.

Sans reentered the kitchen just as Flowey was beginning to get antsy again and sat down with him. He folded his arms on the table and put his face down on top of them. Flowey watched him for a moment and then looked outside as sunlight bathed the backyard, shining off the damp grass and animal themed hedges. The trees of the distant forest were thickly packed, creating a dark cloak over whatever was deeper inside. Even though there were hardly any leaves left on the trees the forest had an awful lot of coverage. A red light glinted from between the thin trunks and Flowey thought that if Frisk was anywhere, the forest would be a great place to hide. Sans began to snore softly behind Flowey and the flower looked back, wishing he had the limbs to smack the skeleton awake for leaving him out in the cold. He could always yell and wake him up but he remembered that the whole point of him coming with Sans was to help him. If he was worn out and therefore sluggish at an integral moment that wouldn't be very helpful. Tempted, but unswayed Flowey let Sans slumber.

It didn't take long for Flowey to become bored, sitting in the flowerpot while everyone else in the house slept. He grew angry at them for resting, supposedly shaken up over Frisk murdering their friends yet there they all were snoozing away. He threw himself back and forth, wobbling his pot and halfheartedly trying to knock it over. It had been hours, and nothing! Precisely almost two hours. Flowey felt he had been extremely patient to let the stout skeleton sleep for so long. The urge to wake him up returned with flourish and Flowey had very little desire to ignore any impulse that would give him something to do.

The ceiling creaking made him pause for a moment. He listened intently as the house groaned and floorboards above him clacked softly. Was Papyrus awake? Perhaps someone was in the house. Something was tapping down what sounded like stairs and the sound traveled seemingly closer to the kitchen.

"Who's there?" Flowey asked, hunched defensively as he eyed the kitchen doorway.

"Hm?" Papyrus popped his head into the kitchen and gave Flowey a big smile. "Hello tiny-" He began with a much stronger voice than he had before. He seemed to notice Sans slumped over the table and ducked his head sheepishly. "Hello tiny flower!" Speaking in a soft but grating whisper Papyrus waved to Flowey.

"It's Flowey." He informed the naive monster, offering the kind skeleton patience.

"Well I know that! You've told me your name plenty of times haven't you Flowery...err Flowey?" Flowey nodded and then glanced at the limp poof of bones beside him.

"What are you doing right now? Can you take me with you? I'm so bored stuck here!" Flowey bent backwards so he could rest his head on the back of his flowerpot and slump in agony.

"Alrighty that sounds like fun! I was hoping someone would be awake to talk to!" Papyrus walked over to Flowey and lifted him up by the pot. He tucked the flower under his arm, balancing the bottom of the pot on his hip bone and went back into the living room. Flowey noticed that Undyne had almost rolled off the couch with her blanket ensnared between her limbs. The medicine left for her had disappeared and the water glass was emptied but the pie remained, for the moment, untouched.

Papyrus stopped by the front door where two large garbage bags sat, filled with something. Curiously, Papyrus untied the, quite frankly awful knot the bags were shut with. He balanced Flowey against his side and saw the bags were filled with dust. He realized quickly this was where Toriel and Asgore's remains had been collected. His wide grin turned down slightly and his eyes drooped solemnly. He quickly retied the bags and set Flowey down onto the floor.

"Give me a moment please...I'll...be right back." With surprising strength given how thin he was, Papyrus hoisted both bags up and tugged them over his shoulders. He walked into the kitchen and Flowey heard the back door slide open.

Outside, Papyrus carried the two bags to the center of the yard where a few dry, sunset leaves from the forest had blown into the slowly dying grass. He crouched down beside the two mounds and placed his gloved hand on each one.

"Your majesties...I, the Great Papyrus...am sorry. You were the most powerful monsters in the underground but somehow, whatever killed you was stronger. I cannot imagine the creature capable of such a thing. That monster must have incredible strength...Everyone is saying it is Frisk but there is no way they could do this to you! They loved you both with all of their human heart and they knew very well you two treasured them! Do not worry your Majesties, I will get Frisk back. I will personally ensure they are not hurt and capture the fiend that attacked you. I hope you both can rest easily knowing justice will be served." Papyrus stood up and did his best to keep his shoulders squared back and strong. "I am sorry I was not able to save you...and that I did not find Frisk last night but I will not give up! Your loyal subject and lovable mascot, Papyrus vows this to you! I will never give up!"

Papyrus smacked a closed fist to his chest which thunked against his round chest piece. After a moment of silence, bashfully Papyrus added. "I am also sorry I can't tell which one of you is in which bag...As dust you both look exactly the same. Though honestly, alive you were both almost identical as well!" He didn't have the heart in him to laugh like he wanted to but smiled at the two lifeless bags he was providing a eulogy for. "I hope this garden holds enough memories for you both to be a suitable resting place for your essence." He opened and then picked up one of the bags, turning it upside down and carrying it across the grass as the dust poured out onto the ground. He made sure it got onto the flowers and the hedges and then did the same with the other bag. Once both were empty he clapped the remaining dust from his hands and folded the bags up to be thrown out. Respectfully, he bowed his head to the garden and mourned the two lost friends then headed back inside.

Sans was still sleeping and although Papyrus thought he should be awake and active, he also knew Sans had a tendency to sleep a great deal more when he was sad. His brother never gave away hints about how he felt, but Papyrus was a master at difficult puzzles and little by little he figured his brother out. He'd let his tiny skeleton brother continue his slumber without a lecture, since no doubt he was concealing a suffocating gloom from everyone else and Papyrus wasn't sure how else he could assist in his mourning.

Papyrus returned to the living room, treading softly as Undyne was a notoriously light sleeper and even fogged up by medicine he might rouse her if he tromped about too loudly. She was resting with everything she had and though it was taking a long time, Papyrus knew when she woke she would be at one-hundred percent once again. Flowey was staring at the pie that had been left for the snoring fish lady by, Papyrus assumed, Sans. He had eaten the one that he had discovered in his room and the familiar, comforting taste had greatly boosted his stamina. Toriel's hearty dessert jump started him into a quick recovery which was why his voice was practically back to normal. He picked up Flowey's pot from the floor which gained his attention. Papyrus smiled sadly at the warm coloured plant.

"Would you like to join me for a walk? I shouldn't get too far from my brother and Undyne but I just can't just sit in here while those two nap! I have a feeling they'll be a while."

"Well obviously. They'll probably be out all day. I don't know about your shrimpy brother but you and Undyne didn't sleep at all last night. How are you so energetic after only two hours?" Papyrus went out the front door and turned right on the sidewalk to begin his patrol of their neighbourhood.

 "Two hours? Wowie that's the most I've napped in a long time! No wonder I feel so lazy!" Papyrus rushed down the sidewalk with long strides of his twiggy legs. "I can't waste away my whole life in bed, Flowey. There is so much to do: spaghetti to make, puzzles to prepare, back in Snowdin they printed the daily junior jumble at seven in the morning! I was always first in line to get my copy before they ran out! I'd even get Sans his silly crosswords even though he never finished them. Thankfully, he had the help of the Great Papyrus! I'd fill in all his missing spaces with letters from my name which gave me lots of ideas for cool nicknames! Nyeh!...heh..." Papyrus couldn't bring himself to laugh. He wanted to be happy and silly, and a positive influence on his friends but loss was a swollen weight in his ribs. He knew though that if he was sad, then the rest of them would be sad as well. It was his duty as mascot to be a boost in moral. He had to cheer up, for them. He stopped with a hard stamp of his foot, alerting Flowey who had dozed off with disinterest during his speech.

"Wha-?"

"Nyeh heh heh heh!" Papyrus forced out a laugh, though it was chopped short and unenthusiastic. He lowered his eyes sternly and laughed again. "NYEH heh heh heh heh!" Flowey stared at the skeleton warily, wondering if he had lost his marbles all of a sudden. Papyrus laughed again, grinning as big as he could and throwing his whole body back to cackle at the sky.

"What are you doing?" Flowey asked, squinting confusedly at Papyrus. The skeleton just laughed again, doing his best to chase away his woes with a feign of happiness. "Quit it!" Flowey frowned at him and Papyrus stopped with a confused look on his face.

"Why? Doesn't my heartwarming laugh chase away all of your worries?" Flowey took a moment to just, blink as that question ran by him again. He decided not to answer it.

"You can be sad you know! You don't have to be this big...ball of joy all the time! You can't force yourself to be happy..." Flowey's eyes trailed downwards while a bitter half smile rose up on his mouth.

"Of course I can!" Papyrus said loudly, beaming down at Flowey. "If you believe hard enough and try your best, even if it isn't real you can make it real!" Flowey blinked again.

"That doesn't make any sense." No matter how Flowey squinted at Papyrus, he couldn't seem to figure him out. However, somehow Papyrus did seem genuinely more cheery than he had been moments before.

"When things are really bad, you just have to laugh really hard and trick your heart into thinking you're happy. If you work hard enough and really try to believe, those good feelings you made turn into real feelings you have!"

"That isn't how that works!" Flowey snapped. "You can't just think that you're happy and then be happy! Pretending horrible things aren't sad doesn't make them good! Sometimes, no matter what you just can't be happy!"

"That just means you aren't trying hard enough!" Papyrus began to walk again while grinning out at the world with rejuvenated confidence. Flowey's face went dark. He grit his teeth while shadows ate away the vile look in his eyes aimed at Papyrus.

"W h a t ?"

"Don't worry though Flowey, I won't give up on you! You were always there for me when I was feeling down, reassuring me about myself! I'll keep trying for the both of us to be happy!" Flowey was shocked right out of his anger, turning wide confused eyes up to the skeleton's smiling face. "I'll just have to laugh twice as hard! I'm sure we can regain our cheer and help the others to keep going! I'll laugh for you Flowey, but please promise me you'll help Undyne, and Alphys, and my brother. I usually try my best to be happy for Sans but I don't think I have it in me to smile for all three of us." Flowey remembered a time when he was somewhat fond of Papyrus. His boundless optimism and radiant joy fooled the flower for several timelines into hoping for happiness. Even after he had decided to go ahead and try killing them all, a lot of the time he still ended up befriending the skeleton unintentionally.

"I'm not sure..." Flowey felt a desire to help Papyrus, and despite his hesitation, even Sans but he wasn't remotely confident that he could manage it without knowing how they would react. In a timeline he knew, with responses he had tired of he could manipulate any situation with specific phrases or gifts and know exactly what the other monster would respond with. This timeline however, and all the occurrences since Frisk had left the underground were unpredictable. Perhaps, things hadn't changed as drastically as he thought and his memories of their dialogues could still be of use.

"Nyeh heh heh! You're right Flowey! Of course I can smile for the three of us! I can smile and laugh for everyone so long as I don't give up! I'll keep trying my very best and then some! Nyeh heh heh heh!!" Papyrus had flown right by what Flowey was intending but it was almost endearing how goofily dense and positive Papyrus was which was impossible to see as an act. Flowey couldn't imagine how pretending to be happy would ever truly bring his friends joy but somehow, in Papyrus' head it worked. Admittedly, hearing his carefree cackle was a little comforting, albeit slightly annoying as well.

"I'll try too. I want to help get Frisk back." Flowey said, smiling weakly to Papyrus who seemed to take the flower's shift in mood as a tremendous boost. He was practically glowing.

"Nyeh heh heh heh! You're feeling happier already! The Great Papyrus is once again victorious!"

"Yeah, buddy..."

"Flowey you should laugh with me! You'll be happy faster that way! Just throw your head back and laugh into the sky! NYE-"

"That is not going to happen." Flowey interrupted quickly with a deadpan expression.

 

 

 

Flowey and Papyrus returned to the house after lapping the neighbourhood a few times. They hadn't been gone longer than an hour or two so they still expected everyone to be asleep. Papyrus briefly took Flowey to the backyard to allow him to pay his respects to the fallen king and queen.

"I spread their dust over these flowers so if you talk to them here, they'll probably hear you. Do you have anything you want to tell the late king and queen?" He asked kindly. Flowey couldn't muster any sort of emotion for the thought that his parents were gone and scattered in the wind. He only felt a terrible amusement that they both ended up with the same fate Flowey did; their essence trapped in a flower. He wondered if the scaley doctor jammed a syringe full of Determination into those flowers if he'd get a nice, empty little family to suffer with.

"I can't think of anything to say..." Flowey mumbled, truthfully not even trying. He could see the dust coating the dull green grass, spreading out from the house and fading long before the forest treeline. Gazing at the trees, Flowey noticed something shining in the distance, flashing against his eyes like a light turning on and off. From within the weaving trees something was reflecting the sunlight right at Flowey. He squinted through the glare while Papyrus patiently gave Flowey time to come up with a farewell. The shiny object pulled back behind a tree trunk and Flowey waited for it to return. Instead, a face slid out from behind the trees; A pale face with messy brown hair and from what he could see, a green shirt.

Flowey shivered, watching that distant mop of hair poke out from the trees. From beneath the hair fallen over their face, something red glimmered towards the two that stood in the open, though only one of them had caught onto it. Panic screeched down Flowey's stem with jagged, burrowing claws.

"Are you alright?" Papyrus asked, noticing how upset Flowey had become.

"Y-yeah...I'm fine! Hee...hee..." Underneath that pale face, the shining glimmer poked out and flashed again, shifting the sun's light to flash bright white light at Flowey's eyes. "Could you...put me down? I um...want to say some things to them in private but I want to be in the ground to say them." The request didn't seem strange at all to Papyrus, who trusted Flowey entirely. He plucked him from the soft potted dirt and set him down into the grass where Flowey quickly entrenched his roots. He left the pot beside Flowey so when he was done, Papyrus could just plop him back into it. "Thanks..."

"I will be inside if you need me, so do not fear and take your time!" Papyrus assured Flowey and then headed to the sliding door.

Once inside, Papyrus was immediately met with his conscious brother.

"Welcome back Pap." Sans yawned, barely lifting his sleepy face from the compressed cushion of his sleeves. "Have a nice walk?" He asked, closing his eyes slowly and then struggling to drag them back open.

"Actually, yes! Flowey and I had a wonderful conversation and patrolled the neighbourhood so I can confirm it is absolutely safe!" Papyrus put his hands on his hips contently.

"That's good to hear..." Sans yawned again and set his head back down to the table. "Where is the flower anyways? Did you lose 'em?"

 

"Of course not Sans! I just set him down outside so he could pay his respects to where I scattered the king's and queen's dust!" While Papyrus had his eyes shut, calm and assured Flowey was right outside where he left him, Sans suddenly shot up in his chair, his pupils appearing after a delay. He jumped down from his seat and dashed to the back door, smoothly guiding Papyrus aside as he passed him. "Oh-ho! Why are you suddenly so energetic Sans?" Papyrus joined Sans in looking outside, at the empty backyard where an empty flower pot sat by itself in the grass. "Oh no..." Papyrus groaned. Sans pressed his hands hard into the glass and strained to locate Flowey. He wasn't too sure he wanted to leave the house not knowing where he was. Sans suspected that Flowey had hidden in the forest but why would he run when he had come to help Frisk? Sans was sure the flower had been genuine when he expressed how deeply he cared about the child. Something red shone in the treeline and it made him feel cold. If Flowey went into the forest, and Frisk was still there, would things turn out well for the flower? Sans stepped back and swiped the far curtain over the windowed door.

"Sans?" Papyrus was confused, he was thinking about going outside to make sure Flowey was alright.

"We aren't moving anywhere for a while Papyrus. Look out for Undyne." Sans stuffed his hands into his pockets and shuffled out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going Sans?" Papyrus asked, worriedly trailing after his small brother.

"I need to call someone real quick.".

"Who could you be call-" Turning the corner just steps behind Sans, Papyrus found his brother no longer in the living room. He sighed down at the floor, frustrated by his brother's secrecy and confusing way of thinking. Papyrus wanted to bring Flowey back inside quickly, if Sans' worries were correct and they were in danger. He had listened to his brother the first time, and didn't go after Frisk but this time he felt so strongly that he had to go after him. With such a powerful feeling, Papyrus wouldn't let himself ignore it. He peeked over the top of the couch to see Undyne still passed out and snoring away, mouth gaping and dangerously sharp teeth folded over her throat. She was alright, excluding an uncomfortable fever. Papyrus took a moment to free the blanket stretched and wrapped around his friend. After laying it flat over her body he went to the back door. Sans would be upset, surely but Papyrus didn't want to lose Flowey as well because he hesitated. He planned to leave and be back before Sans returned from wherever he had gone.

 


	6. Chapter 6

The forest was ominous, the way the slumbering, cold blistered trees shot up from the ground. They appeared like charred skyscrapers to the tiny flower that popped up amidst the groupings of dry trunks. The leaves, dead or dying on the ground were succumbing to rot. Colour was slowly being sapped away, making everything dingy and pallid except the trembling yellow flower, scanning the distance for the familiar face it saw moments before.

"H-hey? Frisk are you here? It's me....your...your good friend Flowey!" Flowey gulped hard, doing his best to keep his teeth from chattering together. "Do you remember me? Been a while since we talked! Hee.....h...ee...Why don't you come out and say hi?" There was a horribly nauseating feeling rolling and squeezing inside of Flowey's stem, an odd sensation when one didn't have a stomach. He was scared, but why would he be afraid when he knew Frisk would never hurt them? Slowly a flash of green slipped out from behind a distant tree. He saw Frisk's messy, overgrown brown hair fluffed up, curling uncontrollably around their head. Their hands were behind their back with mud stained green pajamas covering their body. Their hair fell over their eyes, reminding Flowey of someone they didn't want to compare Frisk to anymore. The small child swayed over to the uneasy flower with their head ducked down, perhaps looking at their absolutely brown feet caked in dry filth that crept up their pant legs. Flowey ignored how his body was screeching to get away and waited for Frisk to come over. He trusted Frisk so the feeling he felt must have been wrong. Lots of things about Flowey were wrong, his emotions didn't work anymore after all so why was he scared when there was no reason to be?

Once in front of Flowey, Frisk stopped and lifted their head. Soot circled red eyes stared dully at the sunshine petals swaying in the wind below them. Their gaze was unfocused and blurry, the colour like murky water. Flowey did his best to smile for his friend.

"Howdy! Boy, Frisk you sure know how to get everyone worried! Heh..heh your friends are all looking for you! They even asked me for help, can you believe it? Haha if only they knew what I've done to them before!" Flowey shut both of his eyes and stuck his tongue out, pushing whimsy hard out of nervousness. When he opened his eyes he noticed Frisk was smiling, which seemed like a good sign, except their eyes were not warm. From behind them they brandished a huge shiny knife with little hard blobs of red stuck to its surface. Flowey's smile fell.

"Wh...heh...heh. Hey! So you killed Toriel huh? Kind of weird thing to do after working so hard to set her free isn't it? Not that I care, I just really thought peace and love was your aim this time especially towards that old cow haha!." His stem was quivering non stop, shaking his petals and clicking Flowey's teeth together when he wasn't talking. He couldn't control the sticky sweat rolling down his face, or the trembling in his voice. He felt like he was going to die somehow. He wanted to run back to Papyrus and Sans, away from his friend but resisted that odd impulse because it made no sense.

"Asriel..." The use of his name, said dead without inflection, stiffened Flowey right up. Any thoughts of fleeing, though loud and commanding, couldn't be followed. He couldn't move. He realized he was too terrified to move. "Do you remember the times I've been here before this world?" Frisk asked in a voided tone. Their face was smooth and emotionless, like it had never met a single crease of expression, like a doll.

"Uh...I-I-I...I only remember the times I reset...a-a-and this world. But I'm sure you've done this before haven't you, Frisk?"

"So you don't remember when I killed everyone?" Frisk asked, taking a step forward which directed the sun to flash off of the looming knife in their hand.

"N-no...Frisk. Why would you do that? This isn't like you, you aren't like this! You saved everyone, y-you saved me! You showed me love and cared about me, why are you out in the forest now, holding that knife?"

"You aren't saved, Asriel. You're stuck in that pathetic body. Frisk saved the day, everyone got to leave and be happy but you. No matter what you always get the 'bad ending'. Doesn't that bother you?"

"...." Flowey wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to please Frisk, to say whatever it was they wanted to hear but he didn't know what it was they wanted.

"Do you remember me, Asriel?" Frisk asked after a patient moment, waiting for a response to their previous question. Flowey looked up at the pale child's flushed pink cheeks, messy brown hair, and green clothes.

"Frisk..."

"No," Frisk interrupted Flowey, frowning and twisting their wrist and the knife, "It's me, Chara."

Recollection and loss rushed Flowey like a tidal wave. He knew why he was scared of Chara. There was a time he didn't remember where he laid in pieces, slashed to bits. He had wanted to help, to live by his friend's side and realized far too late he was just another life to extinguish. Dreams, warning him, slipping through the jumbled mess of time where Flowey oozed and snapped between.

"I need your help, Asriel. You want to help me right? You like being useful." Flowey's body was lifelessly chilled and remained upright by some miracle despite his teetering. In another life, another time he knew he would've flocked to Chara, to see his friend again and regain that feeling of belonging he once had. But Frisk had shown him Chara was an awful person, a terrible friend, and not someone Asriel or Flowey wanted anything to do with. They were a monstrous child that had ruined the goat child's life and now as a flower, continued to wreak havoc in the body of the friend who had saved them. When Flowey didn't respond, Chara frowned and swooped their knife down to press the tip up against the flower's head. Avoiding the piercing edge, Flowey looked up at Chara's bloodthirsty, soulless eyes.

"Go back into the house and kill Sans. He's so weak it would only take one hit. You can do that Asriel. Just one bullet and he's gone."

"H-how..." Flowey squeaked out, stretching his stem as far as he could to get Chara's knife from looming between his eyes. Chara's eyelids lowered, unamused.

"You make a bullet and-" Flowey cut Chara off. That was not the answer he had wanted.

"How did you get inside Frisk's body? I can see that soul isn't yours. You stole it from them." Flowey shuddered in horror and Chara smiled.

"I didn't steal anything, Asriel. They gave it to me. They gave me their soul." Flowey couldn't believe it. Shocked beyond words he could only stare at the way their once kind friend's face had morphed. Their skin was like plastic, bending in ways human skin shouldn't when they smiled, like there was no bones, no limitation of muscles. That cheery grin couldn't be real.

"Tiny flower? Flowey?! Come out please we have to go back inside!" Papyrus's shrill voice called distantly, echoing through the trees. Chara drew back their knife, staring eagerly off in the direction the skeleton's bellow originated. Flowey still couldn't move, fixated on where the edge of that knife was pointed in relation to him.

"This is the way the world words, Flowey. Kill or be killed. Wouldn't it be interesting to see how they all die again? To have a whole new life to live?" Chara bent forward, squaring their legs and readying their knife while scanning the nearby trees. "This is all new and interesting. We can explore it together and carry out our old plan." Papyrus' stark white head and vibrant red scarf spotlighted his position once he was deep enough into the forest. Chara stepped forward, a smile splitting their face gleefully.

"It isn't safe out here! If you are worried about Sans, it's alright! He can be difficult to get along with some times but you will have The Great Papyrus as your friend and mediator!" Papyrus cupped his hands over his mouth to broadcast his voice, not noticing the homicidal child rearing to attack him. Flowey felt conflicted about staying quiet and not warning Papyrus about the impending danger. He said they would help them get Frisk back but still, Flowey remained paralyzed in the dirt, terrified for his own life. The tall skeleton turned his head quickly, trying to pick out Flowey as fast as he could. When he looked around he initially grazed right by Chara but his head snapped back quickly to the child. "Frisk?" Shock melted into relief and concern as Papyrus began to run over to where he saw the child standing. "FRISK! I was so worried! Thank god you're alright!" Papyrus ran to Chara with open arms and beads of tears in his eye sockets. Chara backed away, taking tentative sliding steps before whirling around entirely and taking off in the opposite direction. "FRISK! Please do not run again! It isn't safe! Please come home!" Papyrus did not give up. His long stride gained on the short human's sprint easily. Chara twisted and chucked their knife back behind them, sending it spinning through the air. Papyrus skidded to a stop to try and avoid it and nearly twirled from its path but the knife cut across his humorus and almost detached the bone entirely. Papyrus was knocked back but maintained his footing.

"Papyrus!" Flowey cried out, ducking into the ground and popping up beside the hunched over skeleton. Both monsters watched as Chara ran away, growing distant and then disappearing from sight.

"Nghh...are...are you alright Flowey?" Papyrus asked, grasping his big hand over his arm to keep the two severed pieces from breaking their last sliver of connection. He strained to keep a smile on his face though it was apparent he was in a great deal of pain.

"I-I'm fine you idiot do I look hurt? Why would you go after them?" Papyrus looked at Flowey like the concept of questioning him was ridiculous.

"That was Frisk... why wouldn't I go after them?" Of course Papyrus didn't know what Flowey had discovered, and the flower was debating even telling him. An old philosophy, now felt like a threat echoing in his mind.

Kill or be killed. Was Chara trying to garner Flowey's sympathy, or warning him about what would happen if he tried to cross the child? With Papyrus at his side, and Chara steadily growing more distant, Flowey felt more courageous. Without the press of impending doom leaning over him, he was trying to decide if he still wanted to help.

"They just threw a knife at you and cut your arm open!" Papyrus shrugged nonchalantly and then gazed off at the distant trees Chara had run by.

"It's alright. They are afraid! Perhaps if I was as scared as them, and also a weak human I would resort to such actions! It is hard to understand the perspective of another person when you are so different but just because I cannot see their side does not mean it is not valid!" Papyrus' boundless optimism, was upsetting at this point. The monster's arm was nearly off from his body and still he was absolutely clueless that the Frisk he knew wasn't there anymore. Toriel and Asgore, dead and the second attempt to hurt Papyrus and still the skeleton believed doubtlessly in the child. Flowey knew the skeleton was naive, time and time again he had let the flower kill him but being on the other side of things really put it into perspective how stupid he thought the monster was.

"Let's go inside. Your brother is going to be real mad when he sees you." Papyrus's teeth clacked together as he grimaced and his shoulders hunched up guiltily.

"Oh no..." Shifting his grip on his torn arm Papyrus wondered what would be worse; The pain he felt at that moment, or Sans yelling at him when he saw it. Then again, Papyrus thought, when had Sans ever yelled at him? He couldn't remember. The skeleton was so uncaring and laid back. Papyrus was alright and the injury was just a scratch so he bet Sans would have nothing more to say than a poorly timed pun. "Ah it will be fine! Sans won't care very much! Hardly anything rattles his bones Nyeh heh heh!" Thinking his brother would grow angry with him for getting hurt was, perhaps wishful thinking. A selfish desire he sometimes had when he was sad that his brother would take care of him instead of the other way around. Papyrus often had to babysit his older brother, dragging him out of bed and checking on him constantly to make sure he was doing his work. Sometimes he grew tired, and sometimes he felt unloved but then he reminded himself that of course Sans loved him and that Sans just needed a lot of diligent love and care to get him back on his feet. It certainly took a great deal of time to get the tiny skeleton up, but Papyrus saw a glimpse of real recovery once they had moved into the house and that gave him hope.

"Do you...really think that?" Flowey asked, following Papyrus as he walked back towards the end of the forest. He had seen another side to Sans, one Papyrus had never known but it wasn't surprising this was just another thing he was ignorant to.

"Don't worry Flowey, it sounds mean but my brother is a lot more sad then he lets on to. He is solely focused on his own pain, which must be very great and distracting! If I was hurt worse I am sure he would get upset but this won't mean anything to him!" Papyrus seemed to be certain of what he said, but Flowey wasn't convinced. Instead of worrying for Papyrus, he decided to worry about himself. Papyrus went after him because he ran off after Chara, which meant Flowey was the reason Papyrus got hurt. If he could, Flowey wanted to stay close to Papyrus for a while. He didn't press on Sans anymore, ducking into the ground and popping back up beside the flower pot Papyrus had left by the house. He couldn't get back inside on his own so he watched the wounded skeleton sway over to help him. Though he was smiling, he seemed troubled and distracted. He plucked Flowey and put him in the pot where the flower wiggled his roots into the dirt and got comfortable. Papyrus' arm really was dangling by a sliver, Flowey saw. Papyrus remained crouched by the flowerpot, staring at the ground. The fact they were not immediately heading inside, and the look on Papyrus' face gave away he wanted to talk about something.

"What?" Flowey asked bluntly. Papyrus turned his attention to the flower and sighed.

"I'm worried about Frisk...I want to go after them again before they get away but...I am unsure. They don't seem to want to be protected, but why? I don't understand anything that is happening and no one is explaining anything to me! We were so happy just the other day! Why would they want all that to end?" Papyrus heaved out a great, frustrated breath and shut his eyes. "Usually I am certain of the path I must take...to be a great warrior you must make quick decisions and stick by them one-hundred percent but now I just...don't know. Maybe this...weakness in my character is why I never made it to the royal guard."

"Hey!" Flowey demanded the sulking skeleton's attention, staring up at him with a firm gaze. "Let me tell you pal, you're doing great! I mean you haven't died yet, and that's something! Don't you think that maybe you want to go after Frisk so badly because you care about them, but the right choice right now is to let them go?" Papyrus' brow furrowed downwards as he thought about what Flowey had said.

"How could that be the right decision? They're a child, they shouldn't be on their own, especially when a killer is running around! I can't just sit around!"

"Maybe you need to take a page from your brother's book, and do nothing."

"Do.........nothing.....?"

"Yeah...just y'know, wait things out." Papyrus was giving the idea some serious thought while glaring at the ground.

"Hrmmm....NO! There is no way that is the right choice!" Papyrus sprang to his feet, picking Flowey up and leaving his cut arm to dangle at his side. "Maybe I just need to do more things inside the house! Undyne is still sick after all and Alphys is nowhere to be found! Maybe I should be rallying the other monsters," Papyrus gasped at the spawn of a sudden idea in his head, "Maybe I should call Mettaton! Of course! Mettaton can fly, he could find Frisk in a jiffy and bring them home! Oh why didn't I think of that sooner?" Invigorated, Papyrus charged into the house to carry out his new plans. They entered the kitchen just in time to hear Sans yelling across the house.

"-pyrus!? C'mon buddy now's not the time to joke around where are you?"

"Shut uppppp! Papyrus probably went outside!" Undyne growled irritably from the living room. There was a pause and then suddenly Sans was standing in the middle the kitchen and both Papyrus and Flowey flinched in shock.

"AH!" They both cried out at the skeleton's unexpected appearance. Sans' eyes were just empty sockets, it was impossible to tell where he was looking exactly but Papyrus felt some need to turn his injured arm away from his brother. Sans' face turned to follow that gaping gash in his brother's bone.

"H-hello Sans! I am here and I have brought back Flowey! I even saw Frisk in the forest but they were afraid I think and ran away. In their panic they accidentally hit me with their knife but don't worry I am alright and now they are unarmed which will make their capture much easier!" Papyrus moved to walk past Sans so he could go check on Undyne. "Undyne are you up? How are you-" Sans reached out to stop Papyrus' escape by grabbing the wrist swinging down by his hip. When he tugged on it, the remaining connected bone severed and Papyrus' arm popped right off. It bent slack from Sans' hand. The small skeleton's smile turned stiff as he stared at the long bone arm now in his hand. Papyrus froze, staring at the tiny stump where his arm used to be, and the remainder bent in the air like a broken toy sword. "Ah..." A budding explanation died at Papyrus' teeth and things rapidly grew very awkward.

"Oh geeeeeez..." Flowey groaned through his teeth. He looked away from Sans' shocked and haunting expression. Suddenly he didn't want to be near Papyrus anymore either.

"See I told you Papyrus was fine!" Undyne said, entering the kitchen with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and curled up over her head like a hood. She saw Papyrus' arm and her eye went wide. "PAPYRUS YOUR ARM OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPPENED IT'S OFF!?!" She screamed, pointing dramatically to the arm Sans was still staring at in his hand.

"Ahhhh well I was just outside in the forest and Frisk accidentally cut it off!"

"FRISK CUT YOUR ARM OFF!?!" Undyne looked outraged.

"Well not entirely, some of it was still on but Sans just pulled it off." Undyne's rising anger made Papyrus sweat nervously.

"WHY DID YOU PULL HIS ARM OFF SANS? WHAT THE HECK NOW HIS ARM IS OFF!!" Undyne was freaking out and Sans still had yet to say anything. "CAN WE PUT IT BACK ON? DO SKELETON ARMS GROW BACK OR DO WE HAVE TO GLUE IT TOGETHER?"

"I uhh....do not know. I have never lost my arm before!" Papyrus lifted his stump in a thoughtless motion to rub the back of his skull but quickly realized there was no hand on it to do that with. Sans stumbled over to the back door to close it, lock it and draw the blinds shut while still holding Papyrus' arm. "I imagine glue would work though!"

"Alphys has some crazy strong glue on her desk, I'll get it!" Undyne said loudly. Before she could take off, Flowey quickly shouted,

"Take me with you!" But in her hurry, Undyne just took off, the blanket billowing up in the air behind her. Flowey slumped over and sighed through the suffocating tension.

"P-pap...Papyrus..." Sans seemed to have a momentary struggle on what to call his brother. "Give me your scarf." He finally said, holding out his hand for it. Papyrus walked back to put Flowey on the table and then with his only hand, unwound the torn red scarf from around his shoulders and gave it to Sans. The small skeleton reached up, though Papyrus had to helpfully bend his knees so Sans could reach the stump, and placed the broken arm back against the bone it was once connected to. Papyrus felt an odd rush of sensation like he could once again feel the severed arm but couldn't move it, and it was unsettling. Sans tied the scarf around the two parts, knotting it tightly and since the scarf was so long and oddly cut to double as a cape, he fastened it under Papyrus' forearm bones and Papyrus had to kneel so Sans could tie it over his shoulder to make a sling. He didn't notice until he had knelt down that Sans was hissing out very quiet, shallow breaths and that his hands were rattling softly. He struggled to get the knot done over Papyrus' bulbous shoulderpad, and his trembling made his hands bump against the tall skeleton's armor with tiny clunks. He looked very serious when Papyrus couldn't see his eyes. Despite his smile it was difficult to see the easygoing goofball in him when he didn't put forth those tiny irises.

"Sans I think that knot will do..." Papyrus said softly. Upstairs Undyne was yelling in frustration as she searched for Alphys' glue.

"I can...knot..believe..." Sans attempted a halfhearted pun, and Papyrus prepared to get overzealously angry about it but the small skeleton couldn't finish what he was going to say. Sans lowered his head, and Papyrus opened his mouth to overreact about it anyways until Sans sniffled, causing Papyrus great alarm. He looked over at his brother's head, catching only a blur of something shiny around his brother's eye sockets before Sans dove in and pressed his face into Papyrus' shoulder. Sans' poofy arms flew around his brother's long thin neck and clutched together at his back.

"Sans!" Papyrus stood up in shock and Sans held on tightly so up he went with him. Sans' feet dangled in the air and Papyrus' one hand hovered just over his brother's back, unsure what to do with the situation. "A-are you alright?" He asked, finally pressing his hand to Sans' back so he didn't fall. Sans didn't say anything, Papyrus couldn't even hear him breath. "I-I'm sorry I left the house Sans! I was just worried about Flowey. I know it was dangerous and I could have been hurt far worse than this but being inactive and just waiting around was killing me!" Sans' silence worked Papyrus up into an anxious frenzy, his speech turning rapid and frantic for any sort of response. "I-I-I am alright though, I can feel my arm again so I bet after some time my bones will mend together and Flowey is alright as well so he can still help us and Undyne looks better as well, and I won't go out alone again Sans I promise so please don't cry!" Papyrus groaned weakly for every second Sans said nothing but was granted mercy after three.

"Crying? Heh no I was just trying to see how many signs I could tape to your back before you'd notice." Papyrus' face fell and his eyes bugged out of their sockets for a moment.

"What?" He quickly put his tiny brother down and then fished blindly over his back. Turning around to try and what was there, Flowey saw at least seven pieces of paper taped to his back, swishing in the breeze Papyrus was stirring up. When he finally managed to grab one he yanked it off and brought it to his face to read.

"I'm a weenie that doesn't listen to my brother??" Papyrus read aloud, incredulously.

"Well it means a lot you think so too." Sans said, a chuckle in his voice and his white pupils mirthfully aimed up at his brother.

"Sans!" Papyrus cried in exasperation and then he continued snatching at his back to tear off the other notes.

"Maybe that'll teach you to listen to me next time." Sans shrugged, lifting his arms and carelessly shutting his eyes while Papyrus stomped around fishing with only one arm clumsily.

"I guess I deserve this but take them off now. I already lost an arm why are you punishing me more?"

"Nope, everyone has to know you're a huge weenie who can't be trusted on his own. If you can't get them off it means the world just needs to know." Papyrus cried out in anguish and stomped his foot petulantly on the ground. He then turned around and ran out of the kitchen crying for Undyne.

"Undyne help me take these signs off my back!" In three quiet footsteps he was up the stairs and talking to his fish friend. Flowey didn't realize immediately that he was alone with Sans until he looked down from his gaze on the ceiling and saw Sans had drawn very very close. Once again he held only black sockets to look at the flower. His snow white face wore hard shadows of tension and when he was so close the black holes of his eyes seemed hungry to swallow Flowey up. Instead of screaming, Flowey drew back as far as his pot allowed and clenched his teeth shut.

"Buddy," Sans said slowly, "Why'd you run off and get my brother hurt like that?"

"Uhhhhh...." Flowey couldn't look at Sans' accusing face and found the flower patterned wallpaper much more accepting.

"He said he saw Frisk in the forest. Did you run off to go find them?"

"..Y-eah?"

"You don't sound so sure. Why aren't you looking at me pal?" Flowey looked over to the side where Sans was, but the skeleton was gone. Returning to look back at the wall all he saw were the wide open eye sockets two inches from his face. That time Flowey screamed and threw himself back, knocking over the flowerpot and falling onto the table. Sans remained leaned over towards the flower, his grin very unsettling when Flowey knew he was upset. Trapped and alone, Flowey had nothing left to save himself and with a sigh gave in.

"While I was outside with Papyrus I saw Frisk in the forest and I asked him to put me down so that I could leave and go see them."

"Did you really think you could bring them back or were you going to join them in killing all of us?" Sharper than he looked, Sans perceptively picked apart Flowey's motives. Though not entirely right he wasn't wrong that Flowey considered helping Chara.

"They do want to kill all of you...In fact they asked me specifically to come back in here a-and kill you especially." Confessing this, Flowey felt a pressure on the back of his head. Behind him the curtains were drawn over the glass door but he could feel something weighing on him from outside and feared somehow Chara would know they were being betrayed.

"You gonna do it?" Sans asked, inching ever closer and reminding Flowey of all the bad times he'd had with the skeleton in past lives. He had no desire to relive those awful deaths but an even stronger drive not to remember why he was so terrified of Chara.

"I-I'm not going to lie...b-buddy....I thought about it." Flowey started to sweat when he saw a dim blue circle outlined in one of Sans' sockets. "But no...after seeing what's happened to Frisk I really want to help." Flowey tried to force earnesty out of his eyes, to convey compassion or caring onto his face but he really had no idea what expression he would make for that emotion. It ended up showing as a tight, flat smile and sadly upturned eyes.

"What's happened to them?" Sans asked, the ghostly outline fading away for the moment.

"That's a uh....long story that I think I should tell you away from your brother. You can tell him if you want to but he might not understand...and I think you would a bit better."

"We don't exactly have a lot of time y'know."

"Sans why did you write 'I love you' on the back of one of these signs?!" Papyrus whined, leaping down the stairs with Undyne in close pursuit. "Undyne is making fun of me!"

"Awwww your brother loves you Papyrus its so sweeeet!" Undyne teased him, catching him at the bottom of the stairs and putting him in a headlock to rub her knuckles into his smooth skull.

"Nooooo stop noogying me!" Papyrus only had one arm to fight her with and even then he was usually helpless against her powerful arms.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sans said. As he walked into the living room his eyes drooped calmly while he grinned at Papyrus being bullied by his friend.

"Ohhh don't lie Sans you totally wrote 'I love you' on the back of one of those weenie signs!" Undyne said, her voice cracking with the intensity of her joy.

"Are you sure it didn't say 'I love weenies?' I am a hotdog salesman after all." Sans asked, a smooth unflinching poker face drawn on his skull. "Or maybe Papyrus wrote it. Trying to defame me huh? You take me for someone who loves his brother, Pap, huh? How dare you."

"Saaaaaans of course I didn't write it!!"

"Now are you sure? I don't believe you because I'm pretty sure none of those signs had 'I love you' written on them. I feel like I'd know if they did." His stony composure swayed Undyne, leaving her unsure if Sans really had written the note. Even Papyrus was doubting himself.

"Did you write that while I wasn't looking Papyrus?! Did you try getting back at Sans?" Undyne laughed heartily into the air while twisting her knuckles down on Papyrus' head. "You almost got me!"

"Noooooooooo!" Papyrus whined, unable to fight it when both Undyne and Sans were against him.

"You seem spirited. Feeling better?" Sans asked, and the shift in tone led Undyne to let Papyrus go and ease her massive grin.

"Yeah...my body still feels kind of stiff and achy and I'm definitely still a little warm but if we're going out to find Frisk again I'll be alright!"

"You're also still on medicine so how about you sleep a bit more and tell me how you're feeling when the pills wear off." Undyne looked to the side and frowned then threw her head back with a loud yawn.

"You are still tired! Lazy....uh...fish! You have been asleep for hours! What you should do is wash all of that dirt off of you!" Papyrus complained.

"Usually people get at least seven to eight hours of sleep at night...so I could go for some more. And speak for yourself Papyrus. You're muddy too."

"Great idea. You rest a bit more, and Papyrus why don't you wash up and make Undyne some get well spaghetti?" At Sans' suggestion, Papyrus' face lit up.

"Oh! Good idea Sans! Yes that'll definitely chase all the sickness out of you! And give you the energy you need to chase after the human!"

"Greeeeaaatt..." Undyne said with fake enthusiasm, offering a wobbly half smile while her eyes regretfully stared off at the door.

"Good plan team." Sans turned around to head back into the kitchen.

"Wait! Sans! What are you going to do?" Papyrus asked, skipping over to his brother's side.

"Flowey and I are going to patrol the area, see if Frisk is hanging out nearby and if they are I'll rush back and tell you guys." Papyrus quickly wiped a tear from one of his sharp cheekbones. "Uhh...Pap?"

"You're finally taking your job as a sentry seriously! All it took was for you to move out of the underground and not be a sentry anymore! I'm so proud!"

"Heh yeah, guess I just started late with my watchout duties but I'll work hard this time."

"Ohhh Sans!"

"Yep I know, proud. Feeling the pride over here Papyrus, thanks." He went over to the kitchen table and picked Flowey up from where he were trying to crawl his way to the floor. He scooped up most of the fallen soil and put it in the pot along with Flowey then turned to walk back into the living room.

"Be safe brother! I'll make extra spaghetti for you and Flowey so I'll call you to come back when its done!"

"Gotcha bro, thanks!" Sans waved over his back on his way to the front door and gave a quick nod to Undyne who was getting comfortable back on the couch while balancing eating Toriel's pie.

Sans exited the house and stepped outside. He walked onto the sidewalk and proceeded to stroll along the same path Papyrus had taken Flowey on earlier.

"Um...so are we talking-" Flowey blinked and when he opened his eyes they were surrounded by dark grey walls, dim lighting, and the lingering scent of dog food, "here?" Flowey looked around in a momentary daze before his new setting sunk in.

"You can tell both of us." Sans said, and entered a room filled with loud hissing and popping sounds. Sparks flew from a hunched over figure at a table in a lab coat. In front of her, on a long metal table which was just several different tables lined up from wall to wall, were a number of what seemed to be large animal skulls resting lifelessly. Flowey remembered those damn things well, reacting by pulling his lips back in a grimace. Sans noticed the look and chuckled.

"What's wrong? You used to seeing them from another angle?" Flowey shot him an unamused glare but didn't get a chance to say anything as Alphys was alerted to their presence.

"Oh! I didn't hear you c-come in!" She turned around in her metal swivel chair and hopped down to the floor.

"It's cool Alphys. How're the blasters coming along?" He asked, leaning to the side to peek around her at the open circuitry on the side of one of the skulls. Alphys waddled over to the two newcomers, wiping her palms onto her lab coat.

"W-well alright I guess. I haven't figured out much on increasing the power but I'm working on some ideas for that, p-plus maybe a duel firing system a-and maybe I'll give them bodies so they can be androids that fight on their own and you don't have to control them..."

"You sure we got time for that?" Sans raised one of his eyelids skeptically.

"Umm...w-well maybe not for all of them but if I work without sleeping I could probably make bodies for each of them. I still have the molds for Mettaton's body after all." Flowey snorted loudly at the thought of those dog bone blasters stomping around with Mettaton's body and legs under them.

"I'm with the flower. Try to just beef their juice and if you can get two beams at once or even get rid of the overheat that'd be a huge help."

"O-Okay I'll do my best!" Alphys turned around to get back to work but then stopped and peeked back at Sans and Flowey. "Is that why you two came by or was there something else?" Sans decided to get right to business.

"Flowey and Papyrus ran into Frisk a few minutes ago. They cut my brother's arm and ran away but they were near the house. They told Flowey to kill me." Alphys' eyes shot open and she muffled the loud gasp with both of her hands.

"H-how could Frisk do that...I-I-I can't..." Alphys looked like she was going to cry, though the light glaring on her glasses made it difficult to see.

"Actually, it wasn't Frisk." Flowey cut in. When both monsters were silent he began his story. "I don't know exactly how, but the thing inside of Frisk's body right now is someone I used to call my best friend. Their name is Chara. They fell down into the underground a long time ago and I brought them to my family because they were hurt. They lived with us...like we were a family... Frisk helped me see though that Chara was a cruel hearted person that loved to see others in pain. They would always play too roughly, or say mean jokes, or make me cry and then laugh at me...but somehow I really admired them. I thought they were the only one who understood me...They got my dad sick once by telling me the recipe for mom's butterscotch pie had buttercups in it...He got really sick but he was okay. Chara laughed at dad while I was crying." Alphys and Sans stared tensely at Flowey, giving him a look he couldn't understand so he just continued. "They died a long time ago...I thought they were gone forever but somehow they're inside of Frisk, using their body. I could feel them squished in there with their soul, curled around it like they were guarding it." Tears began to blur Flowey's vision and though he blinked them away as hard as he could they just kept coming. "Chara is an awful person, that wants the whole world to die. They hated humanity, and I think they were only nice to monsters because they had to be. Now they're using Frisk to kill all of you..."

"Are you s-sure about this Flowey?" Alphys asked, her brow pinched worriedly while her claws clicked together.

"They talked to me when I found them, introduced themself to remind me who they were and when Papyrus showed up looking for me, they were ready to kill him." Sans' presence behind Flowey grew heavy. "They were going to but for some reason when he ran towards them instead of attacking they ran away and threw their knife at him."

"D-did you see any part of Frisk still in there? Did they recognize you or seem like they could be pulled out?" Flowey shook his head, only remembering the piercing terror that skated around the edges of his mind. "S-so if this...Chara is using Frisk's body...w-we can't fight them without hurting Frisk!" Alphys looked up at Sans, as if saying those words directly to him. She didn't like how his eyes had disappeared and he stared stiffly beyond her at his guns.

"I bet you knew that huh?" Flowey said in an dull, angry tone. "That you were going to fight Frisk all along even if it wasn't them killing everyone." Flowey glared up at Sans who seemed both resigned and determined.

"I saw them waiting for Papyrus to come down the stairs. I didn't know what was wrong with them but I knew whatever it was....I'd have to stop the kid."

"Are you s-still going to fight them Sans? Kn-knowing it's something else using their body?" Alphys regretted working on the blasters. She didn't want to improve them if they'd be used to kill her friend.

"I want to give the kid a chance to fight this. They're strong...and determined. If we try talking to them, maybe they can fight this brat latching onto their soul...but if we can't do anything by talking I might have to fight them off."

"Killing them won't do anything you know. They'll just go back and do it again."

"They remember...just like you do. Either I wear Chara down and they give up their hold on Frisk, or I kill them so much they both give up...and don't come back."

"And you think that's the best option?" Flowey asked through gritted teeth.

"Nope...but that's the only plan I've got. You think of a better one you let me know. Maybe while I'm fighting them they'll give me hints on how to break that kid's hold on our kid...so keep an eye out okay?"

"A-are you going to fight them alone?" Alphys asked.

"Probably...I don't want Papyrus getting hurt if I can help it but if I invite Undyne he'll insist on tagging along." He looked down at Flowey. "I'll bring him with me though...so he can watch the fight and guide me. He could give me another chance if the kid ends up getting a hit on me. He could kill them and get me one more try."

"You want me to kill Frisk?" Flowey snapped, grinding his teeth together irritably.

"What? You say that like you haven't before. You told me you've killed all of us, I doubt Frisk was an exception." Sans' judgement squirmed down Flowey's stem and though he fought it, he lost when he looked away from the skeleton. Sans hummed to Flowey's silent reaction. "It'll give me a huge advantage if my blasters are stronger, since I'll bet the kid has seen them before. Even if it's just surprise if I can get a few kills from confusion alone it's a little bit closer to them giving up."

"Sans...you're talking like you don't care you're going to kill Frisk..." Alphys whimpered, frowning miserably at the floor.

"..." Sans knew how he sounded, and knew his plans were downright awful. "In any other situation I don't think I could do it. Frisk is a fantastic kid...one of the most special people I've ever met. They really changed my life and for a while, once we were out of the underground I really thought I'd get a lifetime to watch them grow. I was excited for the years I'd spend with them...but the world is going to end. You saw that Alphys. The timeline just stops...and I can't let that happen. I can't afford to stand by because I care about them. I don't want us to stop existing. To just...be erased. It's really tempting to go home and sleep through the apocalypse. But knowing the world will never move forward, and knowing it will end are two different things...and as bad as repeating my life over and over is I'd rather that any day compared to being nothing ever again." Alphys sniffled, and pushed her glasses up so she could wipe the tears from her eyes.

"This is so unfair! F-frisk doesn't deserve this!" She hiccuped and shuddered, crying into her hands for Frisk's misfortune.

"I just hope we can reach them...I'll only kill them as a last resort. I'll try to save them every time."

"I'm sure Frisk will **love** dying over and over..." Flowey grumbled.

"Y-y'know what I've been thinking...you look really familiar for some reason." Alphys was looking at Flowey, blinking the last of her tears away.

"Yeah I thought that too." Sans added, glancing down to the yellow flower in his arm.

"I'd think by now I'd be pretty familiar to you!" Flowey barked up at them, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"N-no...before when you c-came up to us outside..." Alphys tried to focus, staring hard at the ground while racking her brain for the memory she couldn't reach.

"You made me, remember? God you said so yourself not too long ago!" Flowey was getting angry at the two, throwing his head side to side.

"Not th-that! It's this...white...memory. Remember Sans, when we all came to in the hall before the barrier? Frisk was asleep on the ground and although n-none of us could remember it, we felt like something big had just happened and the barrier was gone!" Flowey stopped his thrashing suddenly.

"Yeah...now that you mention it I remember that too. In fact...I remember a flower just before everything went white." Flowey could feel Sans' stare weighing on the back of his head.

"Uhhh....heheh..." Sweat droplets fell from Flowey's head into the pot.

"The human souls Asgore had collected were gone..."

"A-and for some reason all of us...kn-knew Frisk's name. Plus...sometimes I would um...s-see something yellow following Frisk on the cameras as they went through the u-underground."

"Did you follow Frisk on their way to the castle, let them clear a path for you, and steal the human souls when nobody was looking?" Sans nailed Flowey right on the head, figuring him out with incredible precision. "I bet Frisk fought you, and I bet they beat you didn't they?" Flowey's tense silence told them the answer to that question.

"Look! I was bad before...I-I had no remorse about killing anyone and I even killed Frisk...a lot." The thought of it after everything they had been through no longer held the same manic rush it once did. Flowey actually felt disgusted with himself for how he used to behave. "But no matter how bad I was Frisk saved me and I don't want them to have to go through what they went through with me...again."

"Dying over and over and over again huh?" Sans asked, glancing down at the flower. Flowey curled away from the two monsters, frowning miserably at the floor. "But Frisk overcame that too...and the reason we're all out in the world is because they didn't give up. I bet they'll see how hard we're trying to save them and fight just as hard to break free of what's controlling them. They won't give up and I'll be there to give them as many tries as they need. Even if it means fighting them forever."

"Sans! You can't fight them forever!" Alphys hopped up, her big eyes scared and saddened for the skeleton.

"Why not? They'll remember each time but I'll only have to remember one fight. Sounds like a worse deal for the kid than me."

"...." Alphys did not look happy, but she didn't know how else to dispute Sans' plan. There seemed to be nothing else they could do to stop Chara and she hated it. "I'll...get back to work on the blasters I guess..." She slumped off back to her chair and sluggishly dragged herself onto it, facing the open casing of the skull gun.

"We've got some time, I'll help you." Sans said, setting Flowey down on the farthest table down the line of them and then pulled up a chair beside Alphys for himself to sit on.

"You mean _you've_ got time! I don't want to sit here and watch you two play science!" Flowey complained loudly and when the two monsters ignored him he thrashed around in his pot again. "At least bring me back to the house!! I'd rather talk to Papyrus than just sit here!"

"Oh don't worry, when we get back I'll make sure you have plenty of Papyrus' spaghetti and you can talk to him all you want about how good it is." Flowey grimaced and shut up, a faint, horrible memory of the skeleton's cooking haunting him. He shuddered to think one of his restarts was because of that awful spaghetti.

The two worked for over an hour on the guns, first figuring out how to make them more powerful and then tackling the idea of a longer beam span with only minimal complaining from Flowey. Sans had something to say almost every time that would shut him up for a little while. As the two made their changes to every gun, suddenly Sans' phone began to chime. He pulled his arms from deep inside the circuits of his blaster and while lifting up his safety goggles to his forehead, pulled his phone out.

"This is the international house of hotdog hotcakes on-phone ordering service. How many dogcakes would you like to buy?" He answered and the shrill voice of his brother on the other line chirped out of the speaker.

"What? I didn't call..." During his pause, surely to check the number he had dialed, Sans continued.

"You have ordered 50000 dogcakes for a grand total of 100000 gold. Will that be cash or credit?"

"WHAT?! No I don't want any dogcakes! I don't even like hot dogs! I just wanted to talk to my brother!"

"I'm sorry sir did you say you wanted to double your order of dogcakes?"

"NO! AGH!" The line cut out. Sans' eyes turned up in glee as a long snicker bubbled in his throat. Flowey stared at the skeleton irately while Alphys muttered something about improving the power even more while she worked. Sans had the phone held out, ready when Papyrus called back and his cheery ringtone blared up again. He didn't say anything when he answered.

"H...hello? Sans?" Papyrus asked quietly, nervously.

"Yeah bro its me, what's up?" Sans' grin nearly split his face when Papyrus sighed in relief and began to vent.

"Oh Sans I did it again! Somehow I called the wrong number even though I just pressed your name in my contacts! I almost ordered 100000...dogcakes!"

"What's a dog cake? That sounds like something gross somebody made up."

"I don't know!!" Papyrus sighed on the other line, and distantly Undyne said,

"Oh my god."

"Anyways! Dinner is ready so you and Flowey should come back home now. Undyne says she won't start until you two are here so hurry before it gets cold! Though my spaghetti is good hot or freezing so if you wanted I could put it in the cold fridge for you!"

"Ah no need for that bro, though could you give Flowey a little extra on his plate? He says he's really hungry."

"What?!" Flowey snapped.

"Oh of course! I am so glad he's so excited about my fantastic spaghetti! I think it came out great this time!"

"He is just shaking with excitement over here. I think he can't wait. Thanks Pap. Cya soon."

"Goodbye brother!" Sans hung up, grinning cheekily to Flowey who was practically vibrating in his pot. "C'mon buddy, you've got some spaghetti to eat." Sans said, tossing his goggles onto the table and hopping down from his chair to collect Flowey. The flower glared at him with wide, furious eyes and when he reached for the pot, Flowey swatted at his hands with his soft petals and spongy head. It didn't deter the skeleton from picking him up.

"Y-you're heading back now?" Alphys asked, peeking away from her work.

"Yep. I'll cover for you so you can stay here. You need me to bring you any food?" Alphys' face pinched and she grimaced to the side at the thought of Papyrus' spaghetti.

"N-no...I have lots of instant noodles upstairs...they don't expire so they should still be good."

"'kay cya around Alphys." Sans made his way over to the door.

"W-wait! Actually," Alphys hopped down and ran over to Sans to stop him from leaving, "I-I have something for you...before you go." She waddled out of the room, heading for the stairs to exit the True Laboratory. Sans and Flowey followed her, one of the party more against his will but it delayed the agony of the concoction waiting for them back at the house. Alphys brought the two upstairs, to her brightly lit, homey lab and over to her desk covered in towers of papers and dvds around a clean dust-free spot where her old computer used to be before they moved. She peeked around the towers carefully before she started just shoving things aside, rifling through the piles of fallen paper and making a mess around her. "Where is it?!" Sans watched, unhelpfully as she clawed around and made her searching that much harder by producing such a mess of scattered science work and fanfiction. Drifting from the situation, Sans began to doze off and his eyes slid off to the side to stare into space. He glanced at the massive floor to ceiling monitor still hooked up to the various cameras set up around the underground and saw a familiar face, darting across a fiery orange backdrop.

Dropping Flowey with a gasp, he stared wide eyed at Chara, on the camera, in the underground. Flowey's pot cracked but held together when it hit the ground and fell onto its side, slamming Flowey's face into the floor.

"Ow!! Nice going! You could've broken my pot!" Sans approached the monitor. He recognized the sweltering ripple in the air and warm toned rocks as that of Hotland. He held his breath, zooming out from the extreme close up of the child's face to the circular, branching platform of orange ground that was right outside the lab.

"Alphys..." Sans' voice lost its strength, barely coming out louder than a whimper.

"Got it!" Alphys cried out triumphantly, holding up a dusty figurine of a pink catgirl to the sky. She turned to face Sans, and then saw the monitor. The colour drained right out of her face at Chara, glancing around just outside of their lab.

"What's going on? Is someone going to pick me up??" Flowey growled angrily.

"Shh." Sans hushed the flower quickly, not taking his eyes off of Chara for a moment. They had a knife in their hand again and their green pajamas had speckles of red all over them as well as stained smears of something crimson on their face and hands. Their expression could've fooled Sans to think they were lifeless if they weren't moving around, eyes checking the paths like they didn't know where to go. Terror clutched the two monsters wondering if Chara would come inside the lab and find them, and confusion rose up in Flowey who could not see anything that was happening. Chara walked downwards for a moment, then stopped and stumbled back quickly before running to the left path, away from the lab. Sans and Alphys both let out a heavy sigh. The tiny dinosaur nearly fell over from the lack-of-air headrush and her wobbly legs.

"GET ME OFF THE FLOOR!" Flowey yelled, banging his head in soft poofs on the smooth tile. Sans turned around, and lifted the Flower up as he asked and then brought him over to the monitor. Flowey went stiff seeing Chara running through Hotland. "Why....a-are they here?" Flowey whimpered, tremors starting to grow in his core.

"They aren't here for Alphys 'cause they avoided the lab."

"There's n-nobody left in the underground...w-why are they b-back here?" Alphys wondered, clutching her figure tightly to her chest.

"Maybe they came to hide. They might think we'd never look for them here. This is good, we'll know where to get them when we're ready." Sans decided. He mildly worried that Chara had come for another reason. He couldn't help feeling paranoid that perhaps Chara knew about the work he had hidden away in the shed behind his house. Though the machine was broken, perhaps the child would try and fix it and....do something to the timeline. Thankfully, he had left the underground with his room still locked, and the key to his shed still in his room. Additionally, he doubted the kid knew much about machines and could fix a time machine by themself. Unless they were fluent in wing dings, Sans' workshop would be of no assistance. There was a growing pressure to hurry. Sans felt they were running out of time all of a sudden. "Keep an eye on the kid if you can, Alphys and try to make the blasters functional _fast_. Throw on whatever you can and I'll call you when I need them."

"A-alright Sans! I'm going to lock the lab down too j-just in case so you can't come in through the front or back doors."

"Oh wait...what did you want to give me before I left?" Sans asked, turning back before he left to look at the sweating scientist. Alphys stared down at the figure in her hands which she was trying to conceal with squirming fingers.

"Um....uhh...w-well umm...I just...umm...I wanted...y-you to uhh...bring....b-bring back this figure for me....because I f-forgot it when we all left."

"...." Sans said nothing.

"...." Alphys said nothing but stared intensely away from Sans.

"...." Flowey said nothing. Sans reached out for the figure, which Alphys shakily placed in his hand and then without another word he turned around to leave. Alphys stammered and hummed, trying to say something to ease the situation but only made anxious sounds until Sans disappeared.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Sans walked through the front door of his home where a horrible, burning smell permeated.

"Ah Sans! Finally, you two get back! How far were you patrolling?" Papyrus asked, standing in the kitchen with a large white apron patterned with cute cartoon snails tied around him. Since the ties were so long it could circle his small spine several times.

"Actually, we went to see Alphys real quick." Undyne perked up on the couch and lept to her feet.

"Alphys?! How is she? Where is she right now? I've been worried about her being gone!!" Undyne loomed over Sans, forgoing personal space for her intense desire of knowledge. She had the skeleton bending backwards to avoid being pressed into her chest.

"She's working on something for me...to help us get Frisk back. She's okay." Undyne's whole body slumped with relief and a wobbly smile curled onto her face.

"Thank god!" Her eyes locked onto the figure in Sans' hand and with lightning speed she swiped it away from him. "This is the figure Alphys keeps complaining about! She left it in Hotland and keeps bugging me to go back with her to get it! Is that where she is?" Sans hadn't wanted Undyne or Papyrus to know where Alphys was, especially since that was where Chara was hiding out for the time being but it seemed that was unavoidable.

"Yeah she's in her lab but I promise she's safe."

"Good...." Undyne sighed and placed the figurine to her chest, shutting her eyes. She thought about Alphys, about how awful it would be if her girlfriend were hurt, or worse. The idea nearly sent her reeling with rage. She clutched the figure harder until it snapped softly and Undyne froze. Pulling it from her body, and opening her hand she saw she has snapped off one of Mew Mew's arms. Her eyes bugged out as she screamed and then she thundered up the stairs to fix it before Alphys got back.

"Brother! Flowey, over here! Your plates are on the table!" Papyrus waved to them energetically from the kitchen. Both unwilling recipients of Papyrus' cooking forced the best smile they could and entered the kitchen where the smell intensified to an eye watering stench.

"Oh god." Flowey said weakly.

"Doesn't it smell great you two!" Papyrus took a long whiff of the air, exhaling like he was somehow rejuvenated by the vile fumes wafting from his cooking.

"I can't wait to eat it, Pap...w-wow it looks...noodly." Sans said, his voice sounding muffled through his teeth for once. Flowey wanted to cry when he saw how tall his pile of...spaghetti? was. It was almost three times as big as the one on Sans' plate. Even Undyne's plate, Flowey assumed, had more on it than the skeleton. Sans walked over and first put Flowey down on the table in front of his plate then took a seat across from him at the smallest portion. Papyrus loomed nearby, poised in anticipation for the two to try his latest cooking attempt. Flowey looked at Sans, wondering if he'd actually eat it and Sans looked back at Flowey with empty eyes.

"Go on! Eat every bit of it so we can go out and search for Frisk!" Papyrus encouraged them, his eyes sparkling and his mouth open in a wide smile. Flowey and Sans both doubted they'd be going anywhere if they ingested what could only barely be called 'food' presented to them.

"You heard him Flowey. Give it a try." Sans said, and Flowey could only stare down at the pile of literal poisonous garbage he was expected to put in his mouth.

"I don't even have arms to eat this with! Why don't you eat yours Sans?" Flowey shot back, glaring over at the skeleton who was grinning in front of an empty plate, a dab of sauce expertly placed by his beaming grin for effect.

"What do you mean? I'm done." Flowey hated him so much.

"Ohhh brother how did you like it?" Papyrus asked, sliding over to get Sans' praise on his dish.

"It was fantastic Papyrus, best you've ever made I think. Did you try something new with the noodles? Sans made a smacking lips sound, as if he had actually eaten anything, or had lips to smack.

"I did brother! I boiled them until they were almost falling apart and then charred them on the frying pan with the sauce for that crunchy outside, soft inside!" Papyrus seemed proud but Flowey had a feeling that was not how spaghetti was supposed to be.

"Wow, yep I knew it was different. Great job bro. It'd be a shame if Flowey couldn't taste this culinary epiphany you've achieved here, why don't you help him eat it while I bring Undyne her plate upstairs." Flowey really hated that short, awful, puffy jerk skeleton.

"Good idea Sans! Let me know how she likes it!" Papyrus pulled up a seat in front of Flowey and with a crunch, stabbed a fork through his concoction. When he lifted it to Flowey's mouth, half the pile rose up with a nauseating squelch. Something in that hard chunk was goopy and Flowey did not want to find out what. Flowey backed away, shutting his mouth stubbornly to keep that deadly stuff away. Sans picked up Undyne's plate and from over Papyrus' shoulder grinned at Flowey with dark eye sockets.

"Eat it all up, buddy. You hurt my brother before, you don't want to do it again." His tone held a heavy threat that made Flowey gulp. Sans didn't move until he saw Flowey open his mouth and let Papyrus feed him. Satisfied as the flower began to whimper and cry while his whole body shook trying to force down Papyrus' cooking, he went upstairs to see Undyne.

The fish warrior was hunched over a worktable, growling and trying to delicately cram the arm back on the Mew Mew figurine. There was glue streaming down the cat girl's body and puffed up generously around the broken limb. When she had aligned the pieces she let go with a sigh only to yell in frustration as the arm drifted away and then fell off again.

"NGAAHHH!" She dug her hands into her hair and pulled, kicking a hole in the wall under Alphys' desk.

"You have to hold it there until it dries" Sans offered his help and approached the window on the far side of Alphys' and his shared room, stepping over piles of neglected clothes, lab coats and socks as well as soda bottles and stacks of manga. Surprisingly, most of the mess in their room was from Alphys, but that was probably because ever since they moved to the house, Sans had been out so often at his jobs or hanging out with his friends. He hadn't had much time to accumulate his filthy nest. In a way it was a good thing. He wondered if Alphys would mind though, if he organized her anime DVDs into a tornado.

"I was holding it!! How long do I have to hold it for? Hours?!" Undyne growled and after slamming her fist on the table tried to reconnect the pieces again.

"Try a minute." Sans opened their window and stepped out onto the ledge. He held the plate down and then jerked his whole arm to flick the spaghetti into the air. It soared upwards and disappeared on the roof where the rest of Papyrus' spaghetti dishes went until Asgore went up to clean them off. It was an oddly beneficial system since it kept a lot of the harmful bugs away from his flowers and ended up killing them too. Or...it was a beneficial system. Sans realized as he reentered the house that Papyrus' cooking would never again be cleaned off of the roof. Asgore wouldn't quietly keep their secret and use the unwanted meals as compost anymore to spare Papyrus' feelings. He walked over to the desk and put the empty plate beside Undyne.

"Oh god thank you! I'm kind of glad I broke Alphys' doll so I could avoid whatever Papyrus cooked!" Undyne was holding the figure and its arm together pretty tightly, almost all of the glue was squeezed out from the sides.

"Papyrus is feeding the flower himself." Downstairs, Flowey had begun to yell.

"I DON'T WANT ANY MORE STOP FEEDING ME!" Undyne snorted loudly and let go of the figure which held together but was covered in large globs of clear glue.

"You really don't like that guy huh? I mean sure he got Papyrus hurt but your brother doesn't seem to mind, and besides he hasn't really been too bad to us."

"That you remember." Sans said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Undyne's large, sensitive fins twitched on the side of her head, picking up Sans' low tone easily.

"The reason the barrier is broken and we all got free was because Flowey stole the human souls Asgore had and Frisk had to fight him. We all don't remember but I bet Flowey attacked us. He told me he...hurt Frisk." Undyne leaned back in her chair , throwing an arm over the back of it to face Sans.

"Huh! Well thanks to him I guess!" Undyne said with a grin.

"Huh?"

"Because of him the barrier was broken, in a way he saved us. If he hadn't taken the souls and done whatever he did I don't think we'd be out here. Sure, he attacked us and Frisk but I mean almost all of us tried to kill Frisk before and now we're all friends."

"....I don't know if we should be thankful to be out here." Undyne's smile curled into a sharp frown.

"What, you want to be back in there with the stuffy air? Everyone miserable and hopeless? Wishing on rocks in the wall to one day see the real stars?"

"Asgore and Toriel are dead." Undyne stood up, her chair screeching on the floor and then loudly clattering down off its legs. She balled her fists together which made her muscles bulge out of her arms.

"They aren't gone! They're downstairs in the cold fridge! Don't give up on everything just because things are bad right now! I really hate that about you Sans!"

"You think somehow we're going to bring them back Undyne?" Sans asked flatly.

"Maybe?! I'm not giving up on Asgore! Alphys could make something...bring them back somehow like...."

"Like those monsters from her lab? The ones that were all melted together? You telling me you want that for Asgore?" Undyne clenched her jaw and groaned angrily.

"It'd be different for them! Toriel and Asgore are both boss monsters! They're more powerful than regular monsters! The determination wouldn't melt them!"

"Those other monsters Alphys worked on also still had their bodies....Asgore and Toriel have nothing to turn back into anymore. They turned to dust."

"Well where's the dust?! We can just put it all together, their magic is still inside!"

"Papyrus scattered them across the garden." Undyne's eye shot open, a gasp rushing into her partially open mouth. She dropped her heavy eyebrows, squeezing her eye shut tightly so not a single tear could escape. Her chest ached like something was crumpling her heart in its hands, squeezing and mashing it painfully. Asgore...she couldn't accept he was gone. She left the room, roughly shoving past Sans as she did. She went down the stairs and bee lined it right to the fridge.

"Ah Undyne how was the spaghetti? Did you like what I tried this time? I really burned it with the heat of my passion, as you like to say! Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus called to her cheerily. Any other time, Undyne would humor Papyrus, but instead she ignored him and flung the fridge door open. The two jars that Alphys had put Asgore's and Toriel's souls into were resting on the shelf but they were empty. There was nothing glowing inside of them anymore. Upon closer inspection, Undyne could see tiny white fragments scattered on the bottom of the jars. A hopeless, weak little sound squeaked out of her seeing Asgore's empty jar. His soul was gone, shattered to pieces. There was no magic left of him for her to hope for.

"As...gore..." Her king, her mentor, her friend was really dead. Who could she blame? Frisk? The child was the one who had stabbed Asgore if Sans was to be believed, and although the guy was a slacker, notoriously lazy, and uninspired he was not usually a liar. Then again he was so secretive, how could she be sure? She really didn't know anything about Sans at all, despite having been his commander for years when he was a sentry.

"Undyne? Are you alright?" She could hear Papyrus approaching, tentatively behind her but she didn't want to see another bony face try to calm her down even if it was her best friend's. Could she blame Frisk? They were her friend, they had won her over with their inability to harm anything, their absolutely kind and pathetic nature. They were just like Asgore, but maybe like Asgore they were capable of evil. Under the right circumstances maybe...they could be led to kill just as Asgore had. Undyne had stood by the monster king when he lashed out at the loss of his son, killing human after human for him to collect enough souls. She had always believed in him, even when the slaughter felt unfair, or cruel. How could she believe in Frisk when they had murdered someone so precious to her? She never knew those humans, but Asgore was a part of her past, of who she was to that day. He was ingrained in her spirit and his loss was like tearing that chunk of her soul right from her body. "Undyne?" Papyrus' hand laid on top of Undyne's shoulder carefully and she saw in her peripheral vision he was leaning over trying to see her face.

Undyne slammed the fridge door shut and ripped her shoulder from Papyrus' grip. She charged for the back door, tearing it open so violently the lock snapped apart and the curtain tore from the rings it was hung by. "Undyne stop! Where are you going?" Papyrus demanded to know, stomping his foot on the floor as a challenge. Undyne hesitated in the doorway, the cold outside air seeping into her scales. The lingering of pressure behind her eyes echoed to the chill, threatening to return at its whistling call. "You are going to get sick again, come back inside Undyne please! If you're thinking of going after Frisk-"

"I'm just...I want to sit outside for a little bit. This is where you scattered Asgore right? I want to pay my respects." The wind caught her free flowing fiery hair, swirling it around her and blowing it back dramatically.

"Oh...um...alright I guess but do not go far. If you feel cold come back inside alright?" Undyne nodded and then stepped outside. She flung the door shut, slamming it against the wall which sent a massive splinter of glass up the top half of the door's window. Papyrus winced, worried the door would break but it held together.

"Geez she's mad..." Flowey mumbled. Attempting to figure out what had troubled Undyne so much. Papyrus opened the fridge where he saw the two empty jars. His ribs suddenly felt hollow.

"Oh..."

 

The grass and dying leaves felt damp under Undyne's feet. They stuck to her scales instead of crunching which would have felt more satisfying. She walked out to the center of the garden, taking in all of the work and care Asgore had put into it. His dorky trimmed hedges and his patches of yellow flowers. There was still powder he had ground from those flowers in an attempt to make golden flower tea in the kitchen. Nobody else drank that damned tea and even then the ground up petals didn't taste anything like the tea from the underground. Asgore's garden was going to wilt away and die by the winter, and then what? Nobody would replant his flowers, or cut the bushy trees into cute shapes. Nobody was going make tea and offer it to everyone before they went off to work in the morning. Every time Toriel would refuse so coldly and it killed Undyne to see how his face fell. He tried so hard to make up for his mistakes and he'd never get another chance. Undyne fell to her knees, clenching her fists so tightly they shook like an earthquake. Her teeth groaned through her head as she clenched them together, her eyes burned the harder she squeezed them shut. She rose her fists to the sky and brought them down to the ground with an unceremonious thud. The earth absorbed her blow silently and then she screamed.

"NGAAAHHHHHHHH!" Her voice splintered, screeching through the quiet cold air and pushed onward as far as it could go. Her body hunched over, squeezing out every bit of air she had in her to project her anguish. "ASGORE!" She pounded her fists into the ground, pressing her forehead into the dirt as tears fell up into her hairline. Again she screamed, until her stomach hurt and her chest felt like it'd collapse. She beat the ground like it was the one who had taken this joy from her, like she could blame it and just destroy the earth for extinguishing such a mighty soul. Gasping for air and crumpled over her knees, Undyne didn't feel alone. She shot up, looking behind her at the house but the door was still shut, Papyrus seemed to be talking to the flower at the table inside. She sat back on her heels, gasping in short little bursts and sobbing each breath back out. Again she felt something with her, trying to lift her back up to her feet.

She looked around, but nobody was outside with her. She couldn't hear a single person nearby. The presence was calming though, like Asgore. Maybe it was his essence, his love and compassion swirling in the air around her. Undyne looked up at the sky, melting into soft warm colours as the sun set. The clouds were fluffy and pink. Asgore would've liked that sunset. Though the ground was dark and cold, above her the sky held strength and colour. It was warm and she wished she could rise up into those clouds and grow as powerful as that great fireball in the sky. She wished somehow, she had the power to bring them **both** back. Although she hated how Toriel treated Asgore, the goat monster always cared about the rest of them and sometimes she couldn't even be entirely indifferent to her ex husband. That woman, the queen was so full of love and Undyne couldn't even hate her for hating Asgore. She could see why the woman would resent him after what he had done to those children. Undyne just wished they could both come back.

"Asgore...Toriel..." Undyne whispered, feeling the wind whistle by her fins. "I'm sorry I failed you both. Everything is broken and without you...everything is going to change..." She definitely didn't feel alone, she felt comforted, though the world was cold the breeze didn't strike her. Fat tears continued to roll down her cheeks and land on her bare thighs. "But I won't give up...I'll never give up. I'll kill whoever murdered you both and save the rest of us. I'm sorry Toriel but even if that person is Frisk. There's no excuse for what they did to you guys. There was no reason for them to kill you!"

"Uhh...Undyne?" Papyrus' shrill voice cut through her monologue. She didn't turn around, unsure if she wanted Papyrus to see her cry. "I-I um...I am offering you companionship during these hard times...I know you're probably upset about Asgore...and um Toriel. If you need me to, I the Great Papyrus will lend his shoulder for you to cry on! I am also a great hugger though I do ask that you don't try and crack my spine like last time." Though she was crying, she couldn't help but smile when Papyrus was around. She breathed out a soft chuckle, smiling at the leaves curling around her knees.

"Nah Papyrus...I'm okay. I think I got most of it out. I'll be inside in a minute I just want to finish up talking to them."

"Oh..." Papyrus sounded disappointed, but didn't insist. "Okay Undyne..." He didn't walk off immediately but Undyne wasn't going to hold back her tears if he decided to sit down anyways.

"Papyrus put me down beside her. I wanna talk to her." Flowey's chirpy, innocent little voice came from behind her. She didn't know the flower very well but she got a strong sense not to trust it. Like it had been a danger to her before or perhaps would in the future.

"Is that alright Undyne?" Papyrus asked, afraid to draw near.

"Yeah...go ahead." Papyrus did as Flowey asked, shuffling through the leaves over to Undyne and setting the flowerpot down by her leg.

"I am here for you..." Papyrus said quietly, desperate to offer any sort of relief to his friend's burden.

"Thank you Papyrus." Undyne turned her head and gave the skeleton a bittersweet smile. "Do you think you could go inside and make me some tea with those flowers Asgore got?" Papyrus immediately sprang into action, jolting upright and saluting.

"Yes ma'am!" He then sprang off inside, marching goofily across the grass. Another soft chuckle left her watching him go so happily.

"So what did you want to say?" Undyne asked, folding her hands over her lap, feeling the growing cold the more her sadness faded into numb calm. Flowey looked around at the garden, perhaps feeling the same company Undyne did.

"Frisk didn't kill Asgore and Toriel." Flowey said. He had heard the ending of her speech, about killing Frisk and decided he had to tell her about Chara.

"What?" Undyne wasn't sure why Flowey knew this, but waited patiently for him to continue.

"Frisk has something evil inside of them that's controlling their body. It's the spirit of the first child that fell into the underground, named Chara."

"A spirit?"

"I saw it, coiled through their soul and they even told me that Frisk wasn't the one controlling that body anymore. They want to hurt people...to kill all of you and probably the rest of the world if they get strong enough."

"Why are they using Frisk? Is there any way to save them?" Undyne leaned over Flowey, slamming a hand into the dirt to support her new, engaged position.

"I don't know...but I think Frisk is still in there somewhere. Sans is planning to fight them sometime soon." Undyne gasped softly. "He wasn't going to tell you, because he didn't want Papyrus coming along and getting hurt."

"Does he really think he can beat this Chara thing out of Frisk? He might kill them!"

"He's prepared to do that. Frisk has an ability...where when they're about to die, they can go back and try again. It's how they got through the underground, making friends with all of you and surviving your fights." Undyne was stunned, her eye wide and her mouth open as she listened to Flowey. "You all forget when things reset, but Frisk and I don't. I can remember every time so Sans was going to take me with him so I'd remember every fight and could tell him if his plan is working. If there's a chance to talk Frisk back into their body, Sans wants to do it, otherwise he's just going to keep killing them until they stop trying...to save all of us." Undyne couldn't believe what she was hearing, but parts of it made sense. The fight she had with Frisk, it was like they knew her attacks were coming before she even made them. They always knew the right thing to say to her and they even defeated Asgore! None of the other children had ever been able to do that before except Frisk. Sure, Frisk was strong, determined, and tough but to the level they were it was possible their ability came from perseverance. Undyne slid her feet out from under herself, sitting back on her butt and stretching her legs out on the grass. Leaning back to look at the sky with her hands propped back to support her she took in the concept Flowey was presenting to her. It was incredibly tough to swallow, to understand that somehow Frisk could go back in time and redo an encounter, a fight with someone as many times as they wanted. Humans didn't have that kind of magic. Monsters didn't even have that kind of magic but it made sense.

"Do you understand? It hard to deal with the fact your timeline keeps going back and understanding the whole concept of time and space can be-"

"I don't care about that garbage..." Undyne cut in, surprising Flowey. "So all we have to do is beat Frisk up until they can get their body back..."

"Um..."

"I'll do it. I'll beat the snot out of that little punk and make that Chara freak run out of our kid so fast! As many times as it takes, I'll punch the evil right out of that kid!" Undyne stood up, squaring her feet and flashing a strong bright gaze to the darkening sky. The wind swept her hair up while she pumped her fists up to her sides. "For Asgore, and Toriel I'll save Frisk! Even if I have to kill them a hundred times to do it! YEAH! DON'T WORRY FRISK UNDYNE IS COMING TO KICK YOUR ASS!!"

"Ummm...." That reaction wasn't exactly what Flowey was expecting, but he guessed if Undyne was willing to help then it worked out in their favor. "Alright but don't tell Papyrus about any of this!" Undyne lowered her hands and nodded to Flowey.

"Of course not. If there really is something evil inside of Frisk, there's no way Papyrus could fight it. He'd end up letting the kid kill him for sure." A shiver raked through Undyne's core, rumbling through her and leaving her trembling from the cold. "N-Now let's get inside. It's freezing out here!" Knowing there was a plan, and understanding a little of what was going on, Undyne felt a lot better. She picked Flowey up, feeling strength in her legs and spine. She was going to stand tall and though Asgore was gone, she was going to carry on for the rest of her friends and for Frisk. She turned back towards the house and stopped cold, seeing a tall figure standing in the darkness. "Papyrus..." There was no way of knowing how much the skeleton had heard. Undyne had been so focused on her own grief, and what Flowey had told her that she hadn't heard when Papyrus had drawn close to listen to them.

"I am not a child Undyne." Papyrus said in a low, hurt voice. His fists were balled together and his eyes were so dark neither Flowey nor Undyne could tell what expression was on his face. "If Frisk is in danger I can, and will fight for them!"

"Pap...pyrus listen...can you really see yourself killing Frisk if you had to?" Undyne tried to reason with him. To make him understand in the nicest way possible that he was a huge pushover.

"I wouldn't have to! Why are you so quick to think you have to kill them? Even if they can go back, Flowey said they remember! Would you want to keep going on if your friends kept killing you repeatedly?" Undyne grimaced, Papyrus had heard everything.

"The point is to make the thing controlling them give up Papyrus!"

"And that's only a last resort! Sans is going to try to talk to Frisk to see if he can pull any part of them out!" Flowey added, hoping the less violent attempt would pacify the skeleton.

"We won't have to kill Frisk at all." Both Flowey and Undyne got a tight feeling in their throats. "I will be coming and I will talk to the human myself! I am sure they can be saved if we try hard enough! I will put my all into a moving speech that will bring forth Frisk's burning determination to be with their friends! Even this great evil inside of them will want to repent for their sins and I will bring them peace!" Flowey and Undyne felt like they both screwed up big time. "They can't be all bad! I bet the 'evil' inside of them just needs someone to understand them and I, the Great Papyrus will do just that! I will give them a chance!" They screwed up so bad.

"Papyrus..." Undyne sighed, slowly approaching the stubborn skeleton. "What if your speech doesn't work and they try to fight you? They've already killed Asgore and Toriel who were really close to Frisk. Calling out to them might not be enough!"

"If Frisk was able to change your mind about humans, and stopped you from killing them don't you think we can change this, Chara's mind?" Papyrus pointed at Undyne, hitting her with an incredibly valid point.

"Ngh...I guess...but if you're coming, Papyrus you'd better be ready to fight! Don't pull any punches you hear me? I'm invoking my place as head of the royal guard and commanding you to fight your hardest until the very end!"

"Yes ma'am!" Papyrus clicked his heels together and saluted Undyne.

"You listen to me and Sans if we tell you to get out of there!

"I won't run away!"

"Ngghh fine but don't go running into that kid's knife either!"

"Yes m'am!" Flowey groaned from Undyne's arm hopelessly. Even if Papyrus came along and put himself in danger, Undyne was confident she could protect him. Their target was just one child and though that child had beaten two of their strongest friends, with all three of them fighting there was no way the kid stood a chance.

"Sans isn't going to like this." Flowey grumbled, sinking into his pot.

"No. No I'm not." Behind Papyrus, Sans' short little shadow stood against the light pouring in from the house. His bright pupils glowed from his skull in the dark. Flowey and Undyne ducked their heads sheepishly when they saw him. Papyrus turned around and stretched up tall.

"Sans I am coming with you! I will not take no for an answer. I won't let you fight Frisk, or Chara on your own and kill them!" Papyrus leaned back on his hips and folded his hands over his pelvis. "I can take care of myself you know. I am not a baby!" Papyrus stared down Sans' ominous heavy eyes, putting forth his best composure against them. He puffed his chest out, frowning sternly. Sans let out a slow sigh and then shrugged.

"I guess this is a good thing right?" Sans said. Undyne and Flowey looked up in shock. "I was worried about taking the kid on by myself. I mean I'm sure a good slice with that knife and I'm outta commission, but with both of you with me I guess it'll be a lot more manageable. Maybe I won't even have to kill them if we can just capture the kid. "

"Sans!" Papyrus gasped in glee. "Yes that is a much better idea! It will be easy for all of us to capture the human and then we can tie them up and talk to them safely!"

"Guess that's the new plan. Capture the human. I wanted to keep you out of this but...yeah you're right you aren't a baby Papyrus. Maybe you're just what Frisk needs to snap out of this."

"Yes! Ahh perfect I am so glad you agree Sans! I am going to prepare all of my attacks! They've gotten dusty since the last time I used them!" Papyrus sprang into the house, probably running upstairs to polish the box of bones he kept in his closet. Undyne was a little relieved that they weren't going to be killing Frisk. Though a good fight always invigorated her, she liked the idea of just capturing them better than killing them an unknown number of times. They'd be harmless once they were tied up. She walked towards the back door, feeling confident once again in their success. Sans was standing outside, like he was waiting for her. When she passed him by, he spoke to Flowey.

"If Papyrus doesn't make it through this I'd better not see you again pal." Sans said with a heavy, resonating quality like the rumbling toll of a heavy bell. Even Undyne felt tense, though the threat wasn't directed at her. After he said what he did, Sans went back inside and disappeared around the corner of the living room.

"Uh...wow...you really messed up, man." Flowey gave Undyne a tired, unamused glare as she walked into the house and shut the sliding door.

 


	8. Chapter 8

After long enough without sleep, completed tasks all tended to blend together. It was hard to keep track on the task being performed, let alone one finished an hour ago. To keep a sharp mind sometimes enhancing substances were necessary. Some people used coffee, or energy drinks. Alphys, chugged bottle after bottle of soda. Her work station was littered with empty, or half empty soda bottles. There were impressive piles accumulated, kicked together as she made a path to the door for the many bathroom trips she made.

She was no stranger to sleep deprivation. When she first discovered Mew Mew Kissy Cutie she barely got 4 hours of sleep together within a week. The ending of the anime had blurred into some sort of wild fever dream for her until she rewatched the entire series twice. One night without sleep for her was no problem, however since moving to the human world she had access to the human internet, and their vast registry of anime online. She couldn't remember the last time she slept through the whole night. Being a teacher filled her days almost entirely with work which meant the only time she had to herself to unwind and enjoy her cartoons was at night. She'd start with just a few episodes and before she knew it, it was five in the morning and she had to be at work for seven. She was good at napping during the day, during breaks, and recess plus with her masterful grasp on science grading the children's work wasn't strenuous, just time consuming.

The point being, Alphys was exhausted. The rims of her eyes burned irritably. Her vision blurred and her eyelids threatened to overpower her command and close themselves, even just for five minutes. She was chugging a massive amount of sugar hoping it would keep her running long enough to finish the work on Sans' blasters but at some point it seemed her body became immune to the caffine rush and was dead set on crashing. She finally gave in, putting her arms on the table and resting her head down. She'd count the seconds, and only close her eyes for five minutes. It was easy at first, until her focus blurred and she let her body sink into the table. When she stopped peeking at her phone to check the time and slipped away.

She had no idea she had fallen asleep but the shrill cry of her ringtone roused her. She came to a slow start, confused at the source of the sound initially since it had melded with her dreams. When she realized it was her phone she grabbed for it from her coat pocket, wiping the drool from her mouth with her other hand. By the time she got the phone out the call had ended. Looking at her history she saw she had two missed calls from Sans, the first having been over thirty minutes ago.

Alphys called Sans back immediately in a panic, the connecting chime cutting out after the first ring.

"Alphys are you ok?" Sans asked. "Do I need to head over?"

 "O-Oh no I'm fine! I-"

"ALPHYS BABE ARE YOU OK? LET ME HEAR YOUR VOICE SO I KNOW THAT CREEP HASN'T HURT YOU!" Undyne screeched into the phone. Scuffling, rubbing on the mic, plastic creaking, and a tiny skeleton being shoved to the ground was heard and then Undyne panting hard into the receiver filled Alphys' ear.

"O-oh..." Alphys felt her face flush and her chest flutter hearing Undyne so concerned for her. "I'm fine b...baby..." She covered her face, gushing that she could actually call Undyne that. She curled up on her chair, her tail thumping against the thin spine of her swivel chair as it waved about contently. Undyne sighed loudly right into the mic sending a loud whoosh of air into Alphys' ear that she had to lean away from.

"Why didn't you answer the phone?" Away from the receiver she said. "Quit it I'm using it now, get off!" Distantly, Papyrus said,

"Don't kick my brother!" And the flower added,

"Hahaha jump for it tiny!"

"I fell asleep! I-I'm sorry I tried to just close my eyes f-for five minutes!"

"It's fine I-GH!" Plastic creaked and suddenly Undyne was yelling from far away. "GIVE IT BACK SANS!" The phone shrieked loudly, piercing Alphys' ear and forcing her to yank her head away.

"AGH!" Her phone hissed and whispered and then it went quiet as Sans began to talk.

"Alphys?" He asked, sounding slightly out of breath. Warily, the scientist put the phone back by her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about that. So what happened?" There was no longer any background noise around Sans, as if he had grown very distant from Undyne, Papyrus, and Flowey suddenly.

"I-I-I fell asleep. I'm so sorry I haven't been sleeping very well these past couple of days! If I had known I'd needed to be up for so long I would've slept better but uh....y-yeah."

"How's the work on the blasters coming?"

"Um...it's uh...coming?" Alphys tried to sound reassuring but failed. The moment of silence on the line from Sans made her start to sweat. "What I can do though is maybe only supercharge one or two of your blasters! Would that be okay? Most of my time is going into repeating the same sequence and then calibrating it on each one but if I only had to work on two of them I-I think I could get it done tonight!"

"How about I give you 'till tomorrow and you do your best on what you can."

"T-tomorrow?!" Alphys squeaked, a lump pressing into her throat.

"Yeah, is Chara still in the underground?" Sans asked.

"UMM..." Alphys hadn't checked on the monitor in hours so she had no idea. "Let me check!" She said and hurried up the stairs, Sans having to listen to her pant and shuffle over to her home lab. While she ran, he spoke.

"Turns out I might not even need the blasters. Heh, Flowey ended up telling Undyne and Papyrus about my plan and now they're coming with me to help capture Chara...or Frisk..."

"W-well that's good! Huff! Why did you even want stronger blasters in the f-first place? Frisk...o-or Chara, they're both just kids."

"I just...I had this feeling when I first saw them waiting for Papyrus at the bottom of the stairs. I saw this look in their eyes that felt really...dangerous. I mean the kid sure has been running away a lot so I guess it's just paranoia but...Seeing the timeline end like that...I want to be prepared. So even if it means nothing, please keep working on them ok?"

"O-Okay Sans. I got it." Alphys held the phone from her face while she huffed and puffed on her way past her desk. She went up to the console which was trained on Asgore's home in the castle. She didn't have any cameras deeper in so, did that mean Chara had left? She tapped the arrow button, flashing from one camera to the next in each of the underground's areas. They weren't in Snowdin, they weren't in Waterfall, and it seemed they weren't in Hotland until...On the camera stationed outside her lab it suddenly read a human lifeform and zoomed in right on Chara's face. Whatever the child was doing, it was close enough to the camera to notice it whir to life because they looked directly at the screen and smiled. Alphys clutched herself and shuddered.

"What's wrong?"

"Th-they're still here...just staring at the camera a-and smiling...It's really creepy. How can that be Frisk? They don't even look human."

"They know you're there?" Sans' tone darkened with concern.

"No, no of course not the camera just auto zoomed on them when it found them again in Hotland. It makes a whirring noise when it does that."

"Where is your camera set up?"

"W-well this one is set up right outside...my..." Alphys could hear the child talking into the camera, its cheery eyes calling to her.

"A l p h y s" It was calling her name. "I  c a n  h e a r  y o u." A horrible gasp struggled into her lungs hearing the child's voice whisper to her. It's smile was like cut plastic, bending in a way no human face could contort and its eyes were hungry. A very sudden, loud bang rattled her front metal door, making her scream. The child's face darted to the side just as she cried out and its mouth opened gleefully. There was nothing but blackness beyond their skin.

"Oh god no..." Alphys whispered, covering her mouth.

"Alphys what? Talk to me." Sans tried to coax her calmly but it was clear he was unsettled.

"They know I'm in here." Her voice shook into the phone. "They're outside." She was frozen in place, tears streaming down her face. She knew she was dead, there was no way she could fight that thing. It wasn't human, it wasn't Frisk. It had this aura of death surrounding it and a haunting stillness to its voice. She began to panic, the thought that she was going to die looping in her mind.

Chara banged on her door again but she was too terrified to do more than jump. Her door rattled, the keypad beeped and buzzed negatively. Alphys realized her door was locked. She had locked the laboratory a long time ago just in case so Chara couldn't get inside. Realizing she was safe for the moment her smothering panic faded to crippling anxiety. She couldn't move but she could breath and hear Sans who was talking loudly in her ear.

"Alphys c'mon say something don't clam up! Are you safe? Can they get into your lab? Alphys!" She tried to move her toes, dragging each one up was like waking a limb that had fallen asleep. She could move her feet after a moment and Chara had moved to pacing outside of her lab, perhaps trying to find another way inside. It shambled about like a living puppet. It was less like something inside was moving the body and more like something outside was dragging each limb individually. "I'll come over right now if you want. I can hear you breathing I know you're there. Alphys c'mon."

"D-don't..." The fact her voice reached her was astounding. She gained the strength to walk and shakily piloted herself to her computer. "Don't...come."

"Ok Alphys but tell me what's happening." Sans began talking softly, like he was trying to keep his voice down from something nearby. Alphys placed the phone between her ear and a lifted shoulder then began typing on her keyboard, slowly at first but the motion was familiar and she reunited with her tech savvy speed quickly.

"They....th-they're outside but my door is locked." She peeked over to the side at the monitor where Chara was smiling at the camera again, not saying or doing anything anymore. She felt like spiders were crawling up her back seeing that face watching her. "They're watching me...." She breathed in a thin squeak, the phone almost slipping from her shoulder.

"Go down into the lab and lock the door Alphys." Sans said, whispering sternly while a muffled voice angrily called for him in the distance.

"No...I-I'm going to divert all the power from the Core to force fields around my lab and the exit. I'll keep Chara trapped down here." She peeled her eyes from that horrible smile and focused on the unthreatening lines of code racing up her monitor as she typed out the paths and commands to control the power grid. "O-one in front of each elevator...the castle...m-my lab on both sides."

"Don't overuse the fields Alphys, they use a lot of power and the core could overheat."

"I-It's fine...the core's power is practically.....infinite...."

"Alphys?" Sans called softly to make sure she was still there after a minute of silence.

"J-Just on one side then, but the elevator north of here and the path south. I'll push them back to waterfall and keep them there." Activating the force field was incredibly satisfying because Chara reacted by leaping out of its way. It was relieving to know that thing feared death. It's smile was gone too though the blank, heavy stare it gave the camera from a distance was a close second to unsettling things Alphys didn't want to see outside of her lab. She felt much safer, especially when Chara tried to run to the elevator and found themself blocked by a death wall. She forgot that body belonged to her friend and silently dared the creature to walk into her deadly force field so they'd be boiled to slush. She pushed the force field in front of her door forward, blocking the entire path to her lab so Chara couldn't even get close anymore. The child noticed the barricade growing around them and after throwing the camera a look they took off back towards Waterfall.

"They....they left." She heaved out a great sigh and gave herself a moment to hold a hand over her pounding heart. She laughed thinly, her whole body consumed with tremors that made her claws click on the phone when she lifted it into her hand. "I-I-I'm...o-okay. They left!" Sans sighed on the phone though it was just the sound without any air rushing the mic.

"Are you going to be okay until tomorrow Alphys?" Sans asked.

"Y-yeah...yeah I'll be okay. I'm going to go work on your blasters so call me when you want to be let into the underground and I'll remove the field to let you guys inside."

"Ok...be safe. Call me and I'll be there."

"Thanks Sans..." Before either of them had a chance to say goodbye, Sans gasped on his line followed by Undyne shouting.

"THERE YOU ARE! LET ME TALK TO ALPHYS!" There was a struggle for the phone which ended in Undyne talking into it. "Babe you there? We're going to be there tomorrow so stay safe!" Alphys wished more than anything Undyne was there in Hotland with her. If Undyne was there she wouldn't feel so terrified of the thing the camera was following lurching around Waterfall. Undyne could fight it off and win, she was sure of it. She wasn't going to tell her about her close encounter though. Alphys didn't want Undyne anywhere near that danger until they were prepared to fight it which meant she had to hurry.

"I'm here Undyne...I-I'm okay. I've fortified my lab so nothing can get in." Undyne sighed loudly into the mic again.

"That's a relief. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get any sleep tonight if I knew you'd be in danger. I'm sharpening all my spears with that kit you gave me."

"A-are you going to wear your armor?" It was an odd time to feel flustered, but Alphys always swooned at the image of Undyne wearing her powerful battle armor. She just looked so strong.

"Psh nah. I won't need it to fight the kid. That'd be kind of overkill I think."

"Y-You think so?" Alphys had a feeling Undyne should probably wear her armor, but was conflicted about bringing it up and worrying her. She decided against it. Undyne knew better than her after all.

"Yeah. Hey Sans is freaking out about me having his phone so I've gotta go but...Alphys." The way she said the scientist's name was shiver inducingly serious.

"Yes Undyne?" Alphys asked, wiping the sweat from her palms on her lab coat.

"I love you." Alphys nearly passed out hearing that from Undyne, her face exploding in flaming heat.

"I-I-I-I-I-I L-LOVE YOU T-T-TOO UNDYNE!" She shouted loudly into the phone and then hung up. In the silence that followed, she wondered why she had hung up on Undyne, and also Sans. She didn't want to waste time calling them back, which could take minutes to build the courage up to do anyways so after making sure Chara had no way of getting back to Hotland from Waterfall, Alphys left her computer and went back downstairs with a new idea in her head.

 


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey Sans." The skeleton had wandered into the kitchen, wondering who he felt lurking by the door. He was on edge knowing the lock was broken although Alphys had assured him Chara was contained in the underground. Undyne greeted him quietly when she heard his slippers scuffle on the tile floor. She was leaning against the wall, staring out at the night sky from the dark room. The tiny skeleton pulled up a chair behind her at the table and sank comfortably into it. "Do you think we're overreacting about this?" Undyne asked.

"About what?" He felt safe enough around Undyne to let his eyes drift shut.

"Keeping our distance from the kid, planning this huge fight and locking them up in the underground. It seems like the kind of thing you'd do to fight a huge boss...like Asgore but this is just a little kid."

"A little kid who defeated both you and Papyrus." Sans said thickly, sinking deeper into the poof of his coat.

"By being insufferably nice! They just ran away and then made me like them...and with Papyrus yeah he's strong but he's also easy to make friends with. They never attacked us..."

"They've already killed two of our friends...the strongest of us actually." Undyne growled softly and punched the wall.

"Yeah but you know they'd pull punches thinking it was Frisk. Asgore never wanted to fight anybody and do you really think Toriel could kill the kid in anything but an accident? Plus they took them by surprise!" Softly, Sans could hear Undyne grinding her teeth together. "It just feels like we're wasting time...and you've got Alphys working on some special attack for this...they're just a kid!" Sans peeked one of his eyes open, seeing Undyne's conflicted expression reflected in the cracked window on the door. He sighed and shut his eye again.

"In any other situation I'd probably agree with you. Even if Frisk was killing everyone I cared about...even if they wanted to kill me I don't think I'd get that into it. Back in Alphys' lab...when this all started I had to check something...just to shut up this nagging feeling in my head. You know already that the kid can go back in time, to reset things when they die...Alphys has a machine that can read the fluctuations of the timeline. There's a point coming up where it just resets and resets and resets over and over again. It overlaps over the old timeline so much it doesn't seem like it's going to make any progress anymore...and then it just stops." Undyne turned around, staring at Sans who appeared to be sleeping if not for his voice relaying from his body.

"What does that mean?" She asked, a foreboding tenseness clenching in her gut.

"It means that if we fail in getting Frisk back the timeline is going to stop."

"And...what does that mean?"

"Somehow...our world is going to end."

"N-no way..."

"In any other situation I wouldn't interfere...but this is a lot more serious than just a kid."

"H-heh...look at you...talking about being serious?" Undyne tried to curl her lips into an awkward smile , her laugh brittle and halfhearted. Sans hummed quietly as some sort of reply laugh. She went over and sat down at the table with him, putting her elbows onto the table and clutching her head in both of her hands. The two sat there in silence until Sans began to snore softly. Undyne couldn't believe, knowing what he did that he could find rest. She couldn't sit still. Watching the small skeleton snoozing in the chair, and knowing Papyrus and that flower were curled up on a pillow pile on the floor by the couch, they all seemed so fragile. Her heart swelled with a powerful urge to protect them, coursing strength through her veins. Whatever was coming, anticlimactic or demonic she would fight it for her friends. Undyne summoned a spear into her hand and went outside, deciding she was going to train with Asgore until they had to fight.

 

 

 

"Papyrus hurry up we're leaving!" The fish warrior hollered up the stairs, shimmying her body to readjust herself with wearing her armor again. It had been so long since she'd been this protected, it truly made her feel like a battle was coming. It filled her with determination.

"Coming!" Papyrus called as he exited his room and snapped his phone shut so he could tuck it into his chest plate. He hopped all the way down the stairs and landed with an almost weightless tap at the bottom. He had a giddy grin on his bones, his white cheeks almost seeming flushed. Undyne blanched at Papyrus' enthusiasm. She felt a great deal more worried for him but wouldn't dare tell him anything more that she knew. She had to accept he was coming along and that she had to watch out for him.

"You hold onto the flower, bro. He likes you best." Sans said, handing Flowey to Papyrus as he approached from behind.

"Oh brother that's not true!" Papyrus tried to cut down on Sans' self depreciation.

"It's true." Flowey said, in no attempt to hide it.

"Oh..." Papyrus closed both hands over the clay pot and followed his brother to the door.

"Hold up." Sans had the party halt and took out his own phone. He called Alphys who picked up after four rings.

"H-hello?"

"We're heading over, are you done?" Undyne loomed behind Sans like she wanted to take the phone again but this time Papyrus put an arm around her to restrain her, which was difficult with her bulky, and sharp armor which he worried could sever his recently healed arm.

"I'm talking to her after!" Undyne yelled, still struggling against Papyrus who had to juggle her and Flowey in both hands.

"U-Uhhh...um...n-not....entirely." Alphys squeaked meekly.

"Why not?" Sans asked in a chipped but still even tone.

"I-I had this idea...r-really last minute that I'm just putting the finishing touches on. I-I-I think it will be a big help so I-I'll just hurry and finish it up then run it to you guys in Waterfall...o-or Snowdin....hopefullynotsnowdin."

"AHHH WHY ARE YOU SUPLEXING ME?" Papyrus squealed as Undyne lifted him up into the air.

"FOR GETTING IN THE WAY OF LOVE!" The armored battle fish cried, changing her mind and just tossing Papyrus onto the couch. Sans put a hand on the side of his skull the phone was not pressed into and tried to focus on Alphys' voice.

"...I guess I've got no choice. If it isn't done that's that. We won't stop by the lab then. I'll message you to let us into Hotland."

'O-Okay..." Alphys agreed, sounding a little glum. "I'll get it done I promise. Just wait for me!" Alphys hung up on Sans, leaving him with an empty dial tone. He closed his phone and stuffed it away in his pocket.

"Hey! I wanted to talk to her!" Undyne complained, clanking loudly over to Sans.

"She didn't have a lot of time. She's almost ready so we've gotta get going."

"WOW YOU THROW ME TOO?! I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING!" Flowey yelled at Undyne as Papyrus got up off of the couch and warily returned to Undyne's side.

"Shut uuupp you're fine! Let's go!" There was a fire in her eye, fueling her body with energy to expend.

"Are you going to take us through your spacey time shortcut Sans?" Papyrus asked hopefully, eager to be over and done with Frisk being on their own.

"Nah I can't fit you all that far. My train's a one car pulling kind. We're walking." Undyne threw her head back and groaned exasperatedly to the ceiling.

"Uggghh!! What about Papyrus' car??" Undyne offered, really not liking the idea of taking a long hike to the mountain.

"Nope, we've gotta walk." Sans insisted.

"You are going to walk?" Papyrus asked, withholding a doubtful snicker.

"Now with that attitude I might just take the shortcut myself and meet you guys there."

"It's going to take hours to get to the underground from here!" Undyne continued to complain.

"About two specifically." Sans clarified. "So let's get going. It'll give Alphys some time to work. Chara isn't going anywhere after all." He shrugged and spun on his heel to head for the door.

"Oh that's true! Boy that sure works out doesn't it? Just so you know though, I'm not carrying you Sans!" Papyrus warned him, hoping his out of shape brother could handle a two hour journey.

"Hey, hey I had a treadmill in my room remember? I am capable of walking." He exited the house, followed by Papyrus, Flowey, and Undyne.

"A treadmill you left in your room back in Snowdin." The neighbourhood was filled with warm sunshine, at an almost springlike temperature in contrast to the usual autumn chill.

"I'm sure I used that thing once or twice. My stat's still up from that."

"That....isn't how that works Sans." Papyrus groaned, knowing he'd probably end up with Sans on his back at some point during the trek. The band of monsters headed out, back on the familiar path they once took to reach their quaint little city, now to return to the prison they once called home.

 

 

 

It was almost alien seeing the opening into the underground. Going inside and entering the barrier hall and then Asgore's abandoned throne room from the outside was like seeing an entirely new area altogether. The shift in perspective threw everything into a different light. They had been on the surface long enough to settle in, and then they were back beneath the mountain which used to be all they ever knew. It was almost suffocating to return, but nostalgic and welcoming in another way. Whatever they all felt as they made their way through the castle, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne; they all internally agreed that place was no longer where they belonged.

Everything was too quiet, lifeless, and cold. Even Hotland lacked its smothering pressure but seemed almost twice as hot. The machines set about the place were long deactivated, and it seemed almost lonely that they weren't turned on for the monsters' return. Undyne began to lag behind the deeper they got into the magma land. Her heavy sabatons dragged in the dry molten dirt and her exhausted panting echoed against the metal encasing her head and the heat.

"Undyne? Are you alright?" Papyrus turned around when he noticed her finally unable to keep his pace.

"Y-yeah. I just forgot how awful Hotland is..." She groaned, trudging onwards.

"It really is awful isn't it? Why would anyone choose to live here?" Papyrus patiently waited for Undyne to catch up, and since Sans was slung over his back the little skeleton had no choice but to wait for her as well. Though by his soft snoring, Papyrus doubted he was even aware they had stopped.

"It sucks here! Hurry up Undyne!" Flowey chimed in, the three collectively agreeing that Hotland was the worst place to be.

"There's only one good thing about this place." Undyne grumbled.

"Yeah...the nice cream stand!" Papyrus grinned, suddenly wishing the bunny monster still had his cart set up so they could purchase some sweet treats on the way through Hotland. Of course, nothing beat one of his Nice Creams in the dead of winter when blistering winds froze everything they touched. Papyrus found that was the perfect weather to have something nice and cold.

"Uhh...sure..." Undyne said, her thoughts drifting to Alphys and what her girlfriend must have been doing in her lab. She wondered if Alphys was happy to be back, since she loved when things were unbearably hot and the air was dry. She was a good sport up on the surface but as the climate dropped she had been complaining more and more about being cold and wearing more sweaters. Undyne thought those sweaters were the cutest thing and made a mental note to buy Alphys more of them.

"Uggghhh! I'm shriveling here! How far is the lab?" Flowey whined, flopping down bonelessly into his pot to try and gain some kind of cool from his dirt.

"Haven't you lived in the underground for a long time? Don't you remember?" Undyne asked.

"Yeah!" Papyrus agreed.

"I'm not watching where we're going and I don't care! I hardly ever came to this place. I like Waterfall." Flowey began to sulk, pressing his face into the dirt to muffle his whining.

"I remembered something else I like about Hotland!" Papyrus announced.

"...What?" Undyne asked, uncertain if she cared enough to hear.

"The Mettaton hotel! It was so flashy and bright and full of people! Mettaton really looks great in that fountain statue of himself!"

"I'm surprised he didn't take that fixture with him when he left." Undyne snorted.

"Yeah I liked that hotel too..." Sans mumbled.

"Oh you're awake!" Papyrus took notice but Sans didn't seem to want to get down from Papyrus' back just yet and since the taller skeleton was holding Flowey, when Sans got down was entirely up to him.

"Mhm..." Sans looked around at the area they were entering, noting the canopy of cobwebs hanging overhead and littering the floor. "You guys know we're going the wrong way right?" Sans asked.

"What?! No! We're headed for the elevator by that steam vent puzzle! The human called us there once I know where it is!"

"I bet you just want to try it." Undyne sneered beneath her intimidating helmet.

"NO! Vents and steam and hot puzzles are...terrible! I am a skeleton of high quality puzzles! Buttons and deadly electricity and SPIKES!"

"Well either way it'd be off right now since there's no reason to ventilate Hotland if nobody's here." Sans said.

"Oh..." Papyrus seemed disappointed and stopped before they entered the thick nest of webs.

"Well great! Most of Hotland's transportation is stupid steam vents so how are we going to get to Waterfall?" Undyne asked, throwing her hands up in annoyance.

"There's literally an elevator next to Mettaton's hotel...did you guys not know that?"

"Oh my god even I knew that!" Flowey yelled, still crumpled pitifully in his pot.

"Shut up! I don't know anything about this stupid place! If you knew why didn't you say anything you little twerp?!"

"I told you I'm not looking around and I'm too busy DYING HERE!"

"YOU'RE DYING?! OH I'LL SHOW YOU DYING! I'LL KICK YOUR FUCKING ASS!" Undyne marched over, raising her fist like she was going to punch the flower. Papyrus, Flowey, and Sans all gasped at her in shock, making her stop. "Wh...what?!"

"Undyne watch your language!" Papyrus scolded her by instinct. Undyne backed down.

"What? But...shoot yeah it just slipped out but the kid isn't even around so what does it matter?!"

"That doesn't matter! Maybe somehow they could hear you!" Papyrus frowned at her, shooting disappointment her way.

"Plus we don't know how old the flower is. What if he's a kid?" Sans brought up.

"Oh no! That's true Sans! Flowey how old are you?" Papyrus asked, looking down at the flower whose eyes were startled wide. He blinked a few times and then looked up at Papyrus.

"Um...old...enough..." Flowey said uncertainly.

"......Well thank goodness for that! That little slip didn't reach innocent ears but in the future be more careful Undyne!" Undyne ducked her head and rubbed the back of her helmet, the metal scraping together.

"Right...sorry..."

"Wow Undyne and you're a teacher for kids." Sans chuckled.

"SHUT UP!" They all turned around and headed back towards the MTT Hotel so they could take the elevator down to Alphys' lab. Undyne nearly didn't make it, having to pull off her helmet to fend off even some of the heat.

"Thank god....for...these elevators...." Undyne wheezed, their trip made incredibly short by just one quick ride on the chutes.

"I know they are so handy! Why didn't we have elevators in Snowdin, Sans?" Papyrus asked, leading the group towards the brightly lit death field south from the path.

"If we had elevators, nobody would've used the snow tunnels."

"Oh no! I would have used the tunnels!" Papyrus said, feeling bad for the unused tunnels back at their own hometown.

"Then what's the point of elevators?"Sans shrugged as best as he could with his arms around Papyrus' neck.

"You're right! Screw elevators! This place should've been build with snow tunnels! I take back saying anything nice about Hotland!"

"YEAH!" Undyne gathered the energy to shout in agreeance. Once they stood at the field, Sans hopped down from his koala clutch on Papyrus. He snapped out his phone and tapped a quick message to Alphys. Within seconds the field disappeared, letting them inside. Undyne noticed the field holding strong outside of Alphys' lab. She was so close by. Undyne wanted to go in there and see her girlfriend. It had only been a few days since Alphys had left but that was like a lifetime. Still, they had a job to do and getting out of Hotland was her current focus. Once they were out of the way of the beam, the force field reactivated behind them.

"Locking us in huh?" Undyne remarked, her eyebrows pinching together worriedly.

"Don't want the kid to get out." Sans shrugged and continued forward on his own two feet.

"Just feels like we're being locked in the cage with some kind of beast here."

"That's silly! Children aren't beasts, they're humans! Soft, squishy humans that get weird colds that make them really lazy for days! They're like babies, who get colds and then can't leave their beds!" Papyrus charged forward, easily passing Sans with his stride.

"I just got over a cold Papyrus." Undyne said, patiently holding back her annoyance.

"Oh! Well...forget about the baby part! Let's get out of Hotland!"

"Finally!!" Undyne and Flowey both cried out.

Stepping into Waterfall, the air changed dramatically. Like stepping through a wall of mist suddenly the heat of Hotland was fading at their backs and a refreshing spritz of moist air surrounded them. Flowey sprang up, petals spread wide to take in the wonderful shift in scenery. Undyne began leading the pack, charged by the wet air and the distant sounds of rushing water. She laughed loudly, tempted to run ahead.

"Ahhhh!! It's been so long! How could I forget the sound of crashing water? The smell of moldy rocks and gross frogs? Hey! Hey!! Do you think we have time to stop by the glow ponds and see if any Froggits are still down here?" For a moment, she forgot why they had come down there in the first place.

"If we make it round there and you wanna hop in looking for Froggits go for it." Sans shrugged, rolling his head to the side indifferently.

"Undyne! We're here on important business! Where is that stern diligence for work you used to have? Did you soften up living on the surface for so long?" Papyrus scolded her and quietly, Flowey went 'ohhhh'.

"Did you just call me soft?" Undyne asked, walking backwards so she could glare menacingly at Papyrus. She flashed her massive fangs at him and her eyes squinted, eager for a challenge.

"N-no not exactly I-" Papyrus didn't want to somehow encourage Undyne to do something drastic like body slam him into the wet muddy ground. Sans had stopped walking in front of Papyrus which caught the skeleton's attention and blocked his path so he too stopped moving after bumping into him. Undyne however kept going, squinting so hard she couldn't actually see. She backed into the next area. Through a rocky archway there was an open path illuminated by an overhead halo of blue lights. Shadows encased her immediately once she stepped out from the tight cave, blue shine catching the edge points of her armor. Her silhouette backed towards a much smaller one further down the path.

"Hey behind you!" Flowey shouted to her, his voice suddenly booming across the opening room into a powerful chorus of echos. Distant flowers from far below, caught the phrase and repeated it, back and forth and back again to each other until it was a garbled ominous roar that bounced around the gigantic cavern. Undyne stopped and turned around where a human shadow stood, no higher than her hip. The light from the thousands of glittering stones in the ceiling all curling towards the castle, cast light on half of their pale face. She saw overgrown, messy brown hair, carelessly fallen over the child's face, streaks of dark red over their round cheeks, and a blue glow shining across the one dull coloured eye she could see. The child's face was relaxed, void of any expression as they craned their neck up at Undyne.

"Wh-..." Undyne was so surprised to have just found the child that she didn't move immediately. That tired husk was Frisk without a doubt. She had expected it to look...vastly different; Like a monster for some reason. "Frisk..." She reached out to them slowly, entranced at how unbelievably easy it was to just touch them and worried she would scare them away. She just had to grab them. The child took a step back and Undyne froze. They took another step, their eyes were locked onto Undyne's, and they felt so cold. Undyne extended her hand, opening it palm up as a peaceful offering to the child. She tried to smile and not look vicious though doubted she succeeded. "Hey..." The child turned around swiftly and took off down the path. "HEY!" Undyne yelled and ran after them.

"Undyne! Wait!" Papyrus called to her, running into the cavern to follow her. He stopped to see if Sans was coming and noticed his brother was already gone. Turning his head back to where he wanted to go, Papyrus took in the sight of the massive audience of luminous stones embedded in the mountain's ceiling and the shadow of the castle hanging distantly amidst their glow. The haunting murmur of the echo flowers below him, seemed to beckon for him to join them in the absolute blackness. Papyrus shivered, but lingered to look around at the serene picture of Waterfall. It made him think of home and fueled him with energy, blazing strong in his chest.

"Why are you just standing here?!" Flowey yelled, snapping Papyrus out of his thoughts.

"Sorry! Let's go!" He took off at a wide sprint, launching himself on his long legs to make up for the time he lost. The taunting whispers of the echo flowers faded at his back. They all ran through the caves and bridges of Waterfall, hurriedly passing by all the sights and nostalgic scenes in a frantic chase. They didn't stop at the rivers or the glowing mushrooms and as they ran the tunnels grew colder. Panting as they charged ahead, their breath puffed into soft grey clouds. The earth turned wet with large puddles of slush that splashed icily at their feet that then solidified into pristine white snow, crunching under their boots. Frustrated and driven, Undyne began to scream as she ran, making it very easy for Papyrus to follow her if her bootprints weren't simple enough directions.

They ran through Snowdin, the town packed up and abandoned but the buildings remained; cold and empty though no less inviting. They crossed the bridge Papyrus had almost used his treacherous weapon puzzle for the human on. They passed snow poffs and frozen patches of ice, and long solved puzzle after puzzle. It went by in a blurr but the nostalgia of it ached in the skeleton's chest. How vastly different the situation was since then, and yet...it was the same. Once again they were off to capture the human and this time Papyrus vowed not to be flirted into defeat. It seemed they would be going back all the way to the beginning. Area after area passed and Undyne continued her rampage ahead, bashing through anything that happened to be standing in her way which was mostly trees and snow. Finally, Papyrus saw her hulking grey figure teeter and then hobble to a stop . Ahead was an almost impassable wall of thin trees, stretching up so high they seemed to disappear into the misty white sky or just the top of the mountain, on either side of a pathway that led to the great double doors of the ruins. Undyne was waiting there, hunched over and panting while Sans stood in front of her, hands in his pockets.

"H-How?!" Undyne wheezed, thick clouds of frozen air wafting in her face. "How didn't I catch them by now?!" She huffed. "They were never able to outrun me before but...they just seemed to disappear while I was chasing them!" She puffed. Papyrus slowed to a jog and hopped to a stop between Sans and Undyne.

"It's a good thing the underground is so linear or we might've gotten lost." Sans said with deceptive humor. He spoke in good spirits but he was sweating bullets, glancing anxiously at the tree wall beside them.

"The human sure has gotten a lot stronger these past few days! Those tiny legs beat Undyne when she was doing her yelling run! That's her fastest kind of run!"

"Why did we stop here?" Flowey asked, in no way tired since he was carried along for the ride.

"L-lost 'em....I don't know where they went!" Undyne gasped and finally straightened up as her breathing evened out.

"They're in there." Sans said, pointing out into the trees.

"What?! That gap is so puny! We can't get in there! That's unfair human!" Papyrus yelled, projecting his voice to make sure the human heard his scolding.

"I don't think they care Pap." Sans said, gritting his teeth tensely.

"Nngh I'm not jumping through this punk's hoops like some kind of circus fish! I'LL CUT DOWN THIS WHOLE FOREST IF I HAVE TO!" Undyne cried out into the air and summoned a magical spear into her hand. She drew it back, coiling her body from the line of trees and then snapped loose the building tension to launch the spear forward. It sliced through several trees in front of them, continuing and cutting more and more in their way as it went deeper into the forest. Eventually the thick shadows cast by the giant trees swallowed her spear but by the sound of cracking bark and the delayed earth shaking boom of the trees hitting the ground it was still going. There was a line cut for them to enter the forest, continuing into foreboding blackness.

"Oh my god." Flowey said in a tiny voice, wide eyed at the spectacle of obscene power. Sans grinned even more tensely, not sure what to say but intimidated by Undyne. Papyrus seemed frozen mid smile, his mouth open and his eyes bright but silent from the shock. Undyne threw her head back and roared.

"NGAAHHHHHH!" She was about to run into the darkness.

"Hold on a sec." Sans said before she could lift a foot from the ground.

"What?! I'm done waiting let's get that kid!" She growled.

"They're in there, waiting for us. Something tells me this is a good place to stop and collect ourselves. Y'know, check your armor, what we have on us to make sure it's the optimal set up." Undyne blinked a few times and looked down at her armor, and then the spear in her hand.

"I'm good!" She declared. Papyrus looked at his battle body, and then Flowey in his hands.

"Me too!" Sans looked down at his soft, poofy winter jacket and tugged the pockets out of it. All that fell out were bits of lint. He continued to sweat.

"I see...none of us brought any food with us."

"Why would we bring food? Who has time to eat during a battle? You think the enemy is just going to wait while you scarf down a hotdog or some noodles in a real fight?!"

"I would!" Papyrus said, grinning. Undyne frowned at him. "You should have told me we needed food Sans I would have brought my spaghetti!" Sans and Undyne glanced away, witholding a grimace out of kindness. Flowey didn't have to hide his deep frown or the snarky eyeroll he gave Papyrus since he was faced away from the skeleton.

"Guess that's fine. Food wouldn't do me much good anyways." Sans stuffed his pockets back in and stood back on his heels. He looked up so he could address his party. "This is going to be our meeting point if something goes wrong." Inside the forest, something swooshed with a magical flourish. "Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Everyone's faces turned grim and Flowey nodded at Sans. "I guess uhhh...our goal is to get Frisk back so let's try talking to them first ok? We shouldn't attack unless it seems totally hopeless." Everyone collectively nodded. Sans found it odd that everyone was looking at him with so much trust and obedience. He had never felt so responsible and it scared him. "Let's uhh...get out there....team?"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Undyne cheered, raising her spear into the air and heading off first into the dark forest path.

"When we corner the kid, set Flowey down somewhere safe so he can watch." Sans told Papyrus, and then entered the blackness behind Undyne.

"Will do brother!" Papyrus saluted, and then spun around in place to expend his pent up energy. He was excited to at last find the human and get to talk to them. "Oh boy I can't wait!" He then ran into the forest.

It was a straight line of pitch blackness through the trees. The three monsters walked carefully, wondering how they would find the child when they couldn't see. The darkness eventually opened up into a clearing of yet more darkness, except it was very crisply bordered darkness in a circle of open land surrounded by trees. Upon stepping past the cut path they could see each other as clearly as day despite no sunlight being able to breach the tall enclosure of the forest. The child dressed in green standing on the other side of the opening was visible as well. Their head was hung low, their posture was slack and simple with their hands at their sides though an unfriendly knife pointed upwards from their hand. In the darkness, the golden heart shaped locket they wore around their neck seemed to glow. Papyrus did as he was asked and took the first moment to pluck Flowey from his pot and set him down off to the side of the large circle. The space allotted for them was at least the size of an elementary school gymnasium.

"S-so uh kid, hey. No more running alright? Do you remember us?" Sans attempted to smile at the disheveled child across the clearing from them. The child took a step forward, lifting up the knife in their hand which carried the glint of the gold locket's light. "Is that a no?" Sans grinned nervously at the lack of response.

"We're here to take you back home kid! We don't care about what you did cause we know what's going on with you! We don't blame you for Toriel and Asgore!" Undyne called out to Frisk, taking a step forward herself.

"That's right Frisk! Just come with us and we'll help you through this!" Papyrus rejoined the group, standing in a firm line from the child with his friends. There was a heavy moment of silence, the child lifted up the knife even higher, everyone held their breath. The child opened their hand, spread their fingers, and let the knife slide from their palm. It spun in the air, as if in slow motion, slicing through the air silently and then landed when the blade cut its way into the ground. After that, nothing. They lowered their hand and took a step over their knife towards their friends.

"Are you giving up?" Undyne asked, almost unable to believe it was that easy but eased her stance.

"That's right human! Come here to us! We know you are scared but we promise we are not angry! We will help you get this Chara out of your body!" Papyrus bent his knees, opening his arms for the human to enter his embrace. The child drew closer, their body trembling, their shoulders bobbing up and down. They seemed to be choking back sounds. Their head began to shake.

"Do not cry human! We believe in you, just keep fighting this evil inside of you! We know you are strong!"

"Yeah Frisk kick that things butt! Unless you want me to do it for you!" Undyne grinned.

"We're just going to have to tie you up for a bit kiddo but I promise it won't be for long." They all began closing the gap, cautiously approaching the child like handling a fractured piece of glass. The child's shoulders shook more, their sounds began a rhythm that quickly hiked up from whimpers to laughter. They lifted their head, hair flying over their eyes but their mouth was open wide in a huge smile, cackles erupting from their throat and roaring all through the darkness. They lifted their right hand to the sky, a glimmer of red twinkling beneath their bangs. Massive, car sized blades shot up from the floor and impaled the three monsters, skewering them entirely and almost instantly slaughtering them. Their mangled corpses dropped to the ground in piles of dust. Only when they were all gone for sure did Chara lower their hand and retract the blades back into the ground. Their laughter stopped abruptly and their smile dropped. Chara turned their head to the side in a sluggish swoop, to where Flowey was planted, alone.

Terrified, whimpering beginnings of words started and died on Flowey's tongue. His wide eyes poured tears down his face while the rest of his body shivered. He didn't know if he should beg for his life, run away, or even attempt to attack Chara to give the monsters another try at fighting the child. "Pl....please..." Flowey squeaked, sinking deeper and closer into the ground while Chara just stood in place, smiling at him contently, with plump rosy cheeks and dead eyes. "Please! D-...d-don't...." Chara opened their mouth, their lips curling up high with joy while there seemed to be nothing inside of them but shadows. They had no teeth, no tongue, just an empty cut out smile.

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said, Papyrus and Undyne staring at the tiny skeleton intently while Flowey immediately began to cry.

 


	10. Chapter 10

"What?!" Flowey gasped, looking around in a panic at the snowy landscape around them.

"Flowey, he just said-" Papyrus was about to patronizingly repeat what Sans had just told them but Flowey harshly cut him off.

"Why did they go back?!" Flowey exclaimed in a stressed out squeak. He kept gasping, taking more air in than he was pushing out and feeling like he just needed more.

"So we failed huh? I was hoping this would be easy." Sans said.

"Wait what? We haven't even gone in yet! You saying they already beat us? Nnghhh this time stuff is weird!" Undyne pinched her eyebrows together and shut her eye, trying to understand the concept was giving her a headache.

"What happened?" Papyrus asked, holding Flowey close to try and comfort him.

"Y-you all...walked up...and they were just waiting there in this dark circle! You all said some little thing...'We aren't mad' 'We don't blame you' 'We'll help you.'" Flowey's face morphed into jittering, messy copies of each monster's face as he impersonated them, ending with Papyrus' face splitting and half of it drooping lifelessly. "They dropped their knife and walked up to you. You thought they were giving up or that Frisk was in there fighting Chara. They got you close and then they shot these huge knives from the ground and killed you all." A chill crept across the necks of Sans, Papyrus and Undyne, lingering with an uneasy tightness in their gut/ribs."They looked right at me....s-s-smiled and then went back."

"They went back...AFTER killing us?" Undyne asked worriedly. Flowey nodded and hiccuped. "God....that freak wants to kill us again!" She shuddered. Papyrus wanted to deny it, to argue to Frisk's or Chara's defence but he was disturbed by the fact he had just been killed by his friend. He didn't doubt Flowey's recounting of their attempt, he believed him which made the skeleton both sad and terrified.

"Humans don't have magic...where did those knives come from?" Sans wondered aloud.

"Except the human mages that sealed us away...but if Frisk had magic we would have known about it by now." Undyne added, just as confused as Sans was.

"I-It's not human..." Flowey whispered, his face small and tearful. There was a heavy moment of silence.

"Let's go again. Don't trust the kid if they give up. We have to take them down." Everyone agreed and they went back into the darkness one by one. Coming out into the open blackness, Papyrus put Flowey down while Chara waited across the way from them. They stared at the monsters underneath their dark messy hair.

"No tricks this time punk! Get ready for a butt kicking!" Undyne yelled, pointing her spear at Chara. The child lifted their head slightly, curling their lips into a wide, thin smile. They tilted their head back, looking at them all from under their bangs where their eyes glinted blood red.

"You all seem mad...." Chara noted, their voice like Frisk's but repeated multiple times at varying pitches, all overlapping in a hellish orchestration. "What's wrong?" Chara tilted their head and their smile grew. A red heart flickered out from their chest, bathed in a golden sheen. "Did I get ya?" Saying this they made direct eye contact with Sans, their eyes shining as they squinted venomously. Sans felt the ire directed his way, tingling through his bones.

"Was that a stab at me buddy? Wow I must have really hurt your feelings once upon a time." Sans held one of his hands out of his pocket, poised in the air ready to throw Chara aside. "Remind me how that went."

"Really Sans?" Papyrus complained, glaring sideways at his brother. "This is hardly the time."

"Oh my god Sans." Undyne bent forward, flashing her eye down and up over and over in an attempt to keep watch on both Chara and the knives she expected to come shooting from below her. Chara fell forward, their hair sweeping down over their curling smile. They spread their arms out wide. At both sides of them, rows of knives spun into existence, their blades cutting upwards into the sky. A haunting electro waltz whirred up around them from an unknown location. The knives swayed and twirled to the oddly pounding rhythm. Undyne stepped up with her spear, eyes locked onto the projectiles. Chara threw their hands forward at the monsters, sending the blades soaring towards them. Papyrus and Sans both went about dodging the attack; Sans ducking out of the way while Papyrus lept over them spryly. Undyne charged head on, slamming her spear into the knives to knock them away.

"That all you got? C'mon!!" She yelled. A sinister light twinkled behind Chara's bangs. They felt her challenge and met it eagerly. Knives appeared in circles around each of them, stabbing inwards towards their bodies one after another. Sans avoided each wave entirely. Undyne blocked them all with her honed reflexes. Papyrus did his best to fend them off, stopping their path with bones but was not as fast as Undyne was. At the speed they closed in on him he took a few hits. "I'm hardly breaking a sweat over here!!" Undyne boasted, sneering confidently at the child. Chara's head swayed to the music, seemingly disconnected from the rest of their immobile body.

Knives kept coming, locked in on each of them. They came two at a time from either side making blocking them all impossible. Sans kept dodging, Undyne took a few hits before she got the sense to run. They seemed to appear where she was going to be. There was a pattern that she couldn't see. She did her best to weave around the mess of blades following her. In some spaces it seemed like a clear path was made along the course of knives. She tried to remain in that gap but the burrage was so fast, and reading patterns was not her style of fighting so chunks of her armor were stabbed apart. Undyne turned her head to the left; Sans was darting around so quickly he was almost blinking out of reality. To her right, Undyne looked for Papyrus and froze to see him already dematerializing in the breeze.

"Papyrus!" She screamed for her friend, the pile of his magic reflected in her eye. She set that watery image of dust ablaze, her teeth creaking when she ground them together. "How could you?!" She screamed, throwing her spears at the child. A large knife appeared in front of the child and with it they blocked every single one of her spears. "Ngghhhh!" She growled in frustration, throwing attacks out faster but somehow Chara seemed to know what was coming. Chara lifted a hand to her, their eye flashing and while she braced for knives to launch at her, they emerged from her feet, slashing through her defences. She tried to hop away but fell to the side where the second attack of knives was about to spring up. They tore her apart. Without wasting a moment they retracted and while she gargled and shakily reached out to the fading image of the child a ring of death formed around her and stabbed her repeatedly until she faded.

With nobody left, Chara set their eyes on Sans who hadn't taken a single hit yet. The skeleton struggled to keep himself together, knowing even if he succeeded his brother wouldn't get through it with him.

"Is it too optimistic to hope you'd suddenly repent for killing your family and give up?" Sans asked, raising his hand up to Chara who braced themself knowingly. The swaying knives reappeared at Chara's side as their answer. "Damn..." Sans closed his eyes, willing away his sorrow to focus on what he had to fight for. When he opened his eyes his left socket lit up with a blue iris. He swept his magic into Chara, making them lurch with the weight of their heavy blue heart which they had to hold to keep it from hitting the ground. "You seem like the type to do things the hard way. Not sure why I'm surprised."

Sans jerked his left hand upwards and sent Chara flying up into the sky, tethered to their soul. He brought his hand down, slamming the child into the void they stood on and then threw them to the right to smash them into the trees. It brought him no satisfaction to watch Frisk's body be bludgeoned. If anything it made his pain worse. He threw them to the left and after hitting the trees the child pushed off of them just in time to avoid a crowd of bones Sans had shoot out from their bark. He repeated this attack until his arm ached and he had to stop. He released the child so they skidded across the ground. Not one of his bones had hit them.

"This is all too familiar to you huh kid?" He asked, feeling cold sweat trickle down his skull. Chara lifted their hand and Sans saw the knives appear above his head. He took off running, an impassible crowd of pointed edges aimed at him blocked his path on either side. He had to keep running which seemed doable until the blades began poking up from the ground and he had to jump over them as he went, some barely up to his ankles while others involved a strenuous leap that left him uncomfortably close to the blades looming over his head. He didn't have the luxury of messing up. The quick jumps turned into longer strides, followed by quick sequences of them one after the other. Sans was out of breath and struggled to just get through that attack. Something longer came up ahead of him, giving him time to prepare. He lept over the first hurdle which appeared to be the word 'Dead' spelled out in tiny knives. While his head was still back reading the first word he almost missed the second coming his way and at the last second hopped up into the air. 'Skeletons' was the second word and for his stride he hadn't jumped far enough to pass it. He landed down on the 'n' where the blades shot up on contact and sliced his body apart.

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said to an audience of stony expressions. Flowey was confused, looking around at the now alive band of monsters he had just seen killed.

"They did it again..." He said, incomprehensibly chilled.

"Did what?" Papyrus asked.

"That's the second time you guys have gone in there and they keep killing you all and resetting..." Flowey stared down at the dirt in his pot, eyebrows drawn low over his wide, concerned eyes.

"What?? They've beaten us twice now? What is wrong with them? They won and then they give us another chance! Do they want to get killed??" Undyne asked in a series of loud, angry questions.

"There's only two reasons I can think of." Sans said and everyone turned to him. "Either Frisk is able to fight them enough that when we lose they can go back...or that thing in there has a really messed up sense of humor." His pupils appeared and glanced to the side, almost able to hear something giggling within the depths of the forest.

"What are we doing wrong? Flowey?" Papyrus asked the flower in his hands, their one source of information on the battles that had passed. All eyes were drilling into him now.

"I-I don't know! They're just incredibly powerful! They make knives appear from both the ground and make them fly at you in all these attacks you don't know. They catch you guys off guard. There's no way I can prepare you for it!"

"Knives? Can the kid make knives?" Undyne asked.

"Frisk doesn't have magic that isn't possible! They're a human!"

"Maybe we should wait until Alphys gets here...she's bringing me weapons that would help us keep a distance from the kid." Sans reasoned, prepared to hold tight at the meeting spot.

"Wait?! Ngahhh! No way! That monster is in there waiting for us. How long do you think it's going to let us stand here? We have to strike fast before Alphys gets anywhere near it!" Undyne stubbornly ran ahead, into the forest ahead of everyone else. Not wanting to let their friend face this daunting fight by herself the skeleton brothers joined her after sharing a hesitant look to one another.

Through the threshold of shadows the forest opened up to a black clearing where Undyne and Chara stood clearly in the midst of battle. She was struggling to fend off flying blades and kept getting surprised by attacks flying up from below her. Before Sans and Papyrus could join the fight, she was impaled by massive shards of metal and left suspended by them as her body fell apart.

"No...." She groaned, her body billowing and fading away. "I can't die...I...can't....fail...my...friends...I won't let you...hurt..them...Papyrus...Sans....Alphy-" As she spoke her fading was delayed, her voice gathered strength and began to rumble with spiritual power. Chara sent a barrage at her, interrupting her monologue. Knives spawned in a tower above her and one after another they fell down, slashing her apart until she disappeared.

"Undyne! No!" Papyrus returned from setting Flowey down in the ground to see his friend murdered by Chara. His bones clattered weakly while he stooped his head and squeezed away his tears. "Brother, let's stop this evil creature right now!" Papyrus took a wide stance beside Sans, extending a hand ready to summon his bones. Sans stood with his back to his brother, hands in his pockets while his eye lit up menacingly.

"Got your back bro." He said, eyes low and heavy towards Chara who was smiling at the two skeletons. The music cued up, the strings screeching down both of their spines, leaving them on edge. Chara created their knives, their head and the blades swaying in sync to the music. "Let's hit em hard right out of the gate."

"I couldn't agree more brother! Creature! Prepare for my special attack!" Papyrus' voice boomed threateningly. The ground rumbled, quaking as hundreds of bones unearthed themselves around Chara. They shot up into the sky, five times the size of the child. "Even Frisk has not seen this attack due to the meddling of a pesky dog! Perhaps it was so that this attack would be a surprise to you! Behold my bone maze! In order for you to attack us you must reach where we stand at the end, otherwise you won't get a chance! But be wary Creature! Some paths are trapped with spikes so move quickly!" Chara stood among the thick wall of bones, an unamused blankness on their face. They made a knife in their hand and slashed at the walls only for a few small bones to pop up beneath them and leech massive damage before they jumped off.

"No cheating kid." Sans said, winking at the child who couldn't see him but somehow Chara knew in his voice the skeleton was winking. Forced to play Papyrus' game, Chara ran through the maze wanting only for it to be over. In their recklessness they were hit by spikes, bumped their soul against the painful bone walls while turning corners and sometimes bones would just appear under them if they stopped and snatch away precious health. Going through the maze after clipping yet another corner Chara fell down and Papyrus receded the bones into the ground.

"That is enough! Creature you were not able to get through my maze but you can't safely proceed anymore! It's over, let us capture you!" Papyrus said, striding over to where Chara lay fallen on the ground. Sans followed closely behind him. The child snapped their head up, mouth set in a firm flat line while their eyes glinted from the shadows cast by their bangs.

"Move!" Sans ordered and the two brothers ran off in different directions as knives shot up from the ground, following them. Suddenly stopping the ground attacks, knives appeared from the sides and in swirling formations stabbed inwards at the two. Sans was able to weave around them but Papyrus was hit repeatedly as he found and then attempted to dive through the openings. He just wasn't fast enough but was tough enough to withstand the blows.

"Creature give up! We will not kill you!" Papyrus yelled. "Please we can help you!" He called out to them, smiling earnestly to the battered child. Chara didn't waste a moment even pondering the idea and sent more knives to attack them. The skeletons ran, Papyrus practically lapping the large space with his wide leaping steps while Sans began to teeter as his stamina drained. Papyrus noticed that his brother's strength was fading and ran for him.

"Sans!" The small skeleton fell to his knees, wheezing down at the ground. His legs refused to move anymore though he tried to get back up. A ring of knives appeared above him and with a final push of his remaining energy he rolled out of their way. He shoved his hand out towards Chara to launch them back into the trees so they couldn't throw any more. "S...ans..." The small skeleton heard his name, squeaked out weakly by his brother's voice. He knew what had happened before he turned around. The moments his eyes scanned the trees, turning back he felt like he had a stomach and that it was sinking as far down into him as it could go. He looked back to where he had just been and saw Papyrus, crumpled on the ground like a discarded pile of bones peppered with knives. Papyrus tried to lift his gloved hand, his arm shaking from the effort. Sans reached for him but before he could grab hold of his brother, Papyrus humerus snapped and his hand fell to the ground. Sans recoiled in alarm and then looked to see the tears glistening as they fell from his brother's eye sockets. "I'm...sorry..." Papyrus wheezed and then turned into a pile of dust.

"Throw me around all you want. It won't kill me." Chara said cheerily from behind him, their voice loud like they were close. Sans shuddered, a scream lingering just outside of his teeth that he restrained. He slowly turned his head, looking back and seeing Chara was standing right behind him. The chugging sound their knives made when they were brought to existence went in a stream above his head. "I'm done playing around now. Go join your bro-" Sans hand shot out, Chara stepped back to avoid it but all it took was one hit, just one bone to graze their soul and it popped and scattered into pieces.

 

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said, glancing across the heavy expressions aimed his way. He stopped on Flowey who was staring at him with a wide eyed mixture of shock and disappointment. "Did we fail?" Sans asked Flowey, catching onto his unusual expression.

"You...killed them..." Flowey said, frowning. "They were weak and had just killed your brother...and instead of trying you just killed them." Flowey was obviously unhappy but Sans bristled more at the mention of Papyrus being killed.

"They killed me? Oh no! I'm sure they didn't mean it!" Papyrus said, pouting worriedly towards the forest.

"Of course they meant it Papyrus! Be careful when we go in there! Don't think they won't attack and get yourself hurt!" Undyne ordered, jabbing the skeleton in the chest with a strong finger.

"How'd they kill Papyrus?" Sans asked with sad, empty eye sockets. Flowey groaned at the cumbersome task of repeating himself for a third time on how Chara attacked.

"Knives. They have some kind of magic where they make knives shoot up from the ground or they can throw them around in the air. Yes Frisk doesn't have magic, we don't know why they can do this. Make sure the fish doesn't charge ahead and she should keep her eyes on her feet." He went off dryly, his expression bored and blank.

"Uhh...okay..." Undyne said, feeling a little awkward to be singled out. They all went into the forest to fight Chara once again. The child wasn't smiling that time, their knives already out and spinning to the waltz when they showed up. Papyrus hardly had time to put Flowey down before they were attacking. With Flowey's advice, Undyne paid more attention to where she was standing and was still able to deflect the flying knives headed her way. Though she took a couple hits when she got too focused on the rapid ongoing pressure of projectiles they didn't slow her down. They got farther than they had ever before, though the attacks didn't change and served to tire them out. After too many slipups Papyrus was killed, each restart leaving the patterns fresh in his mind and he wasn't able to see through the attacks quickly enough.

"Papyrus!" Undyne called out to him and then dug her feet into the dirt. She crouched low, a spear appearing in each hand with a sharp whir. Sans stopped running and held out his hand, lifting Chara up and slamming them down to the ground. "PAPYRUS!" Undyne and then threw a frantic rush of spears at the child. They rained down on Chara while Sans held them so they could only dash to the sides to avoid the hailing fire. In this state too many of Undyne's spears, in an almost impossible, unfair rush stabbed right through Chara. They didn't get a chance to make it through the attack and before either monster could notice they were weak, one more spear jabbed through their soul and broke it.

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said and immediately picked up on Flowey glaring at him. "What?"

"You killed them again." Flowey said lowly, his face heavily shadowed as his eyebrows pinched together.

"Again? How many times have we already done this?" Undyne asked, lost in the confusion of having no memories of the past battles. Flowey ignored her, focusing more on his irritation towards their failure.

"You guys can't control your attacks or tell when Chara is too weak! How are you going to capture them that way?" Flowey growled, grinding his teeth together.

"Worry not Flowey! I the Great Papyrus am a master at reading people! During my own fight with the human so long ago I was able to tell when they were at their limit and successfully restrained them to our shed to await collection by Undyne!" Papyrus curled a hand proud to his chest and turned his head up nobly to the sky.

"Yeah and then they got out." Sans added.

"And then instead of capturing them you made friends with them." Undyne piped in.

"And dated them." Sans' eyes turned up at Papyrus' flushed pink cheekbones.

"That is not important! I will watch out for the human so fear not Flowey!" Flowey didn't feel very reassured.

"Any advice before we head in there?" Sans asked.

"They can make knives. Magic. Amazing I know." Flowey grumbled, sinking low in his pot while glaring off at the forest.

"....Welp ok. Thanks Flowey." Sans said and with that they went to fight Chara. The music was playing, their blades were twirling around in the sky above Chara's head which was no longer bobbing whimsically to the unsettling tune. Everyone got ready to fight, not sure what to expect beyond those knives floating by Chara heading towards them and they did. Deflecting and dodging the flying knives the team attempted to talk to Frisk.

"Kid can you hear us?" Sans called.

"Don't let that thing control you! We're your friends here! C'mon!" Undyne bellowed. Chara's eyes glinted. They lifted one of their hands up and half of the battle area shot up with huge knives slicing up to the sky. When everyone dodged to the side of them, Chara lowered that hand and raised the other, sending up the blades on the opposite side. They did this, back and forth with deceptive timing which only Sans was quick enough to evade entirely. It didn't take long at all for Undyne and Papyrus to die. Sans had fallen to the ground, shaking and groaning in pain. As Chara approached with a knife raised in their hand to finish him off they saw only his back, curled up with one of his bony hands gripping his poofy jacket in tight desperation. They stood over his body, holding the knife high and they smiled in satisfaction.

"It's over." They hissed in delight.

"Y-yeah...I guess so..." Sans sniffled and coughed, his body convulsing on the ground. "You're going to end everything huh?" He asked. Chara couldn't contain the grin that split across their face.

"That's right. This entire timeline is going to be destroyed. You'll all cease to exist. After killing you I'll be powerful enough to dissolve this horrible world. I'll once again have my LOVE and maybe...depending on my 'partner' I'll bring it back and do it again." Sans shivered, squirming as it raked from his pelvis up to the back of his skull.

"Could you...do me a favor then kid? I mean I'm done for anyways...nngh...could you let me go peacefully? It's all getting fuzzy and this might sound funny but I swear I can see Grillby's old place if I just...close my eyes." Chara didn't strike down right away but didn't lower the knife either. "Of course I'm not expecting mercy from you, Chara...but if the kid is in there...somewhere. I just wanna go back to a better time before it's all gone." Chara seemed conflicted, the knife in their hand clinking softly as their hand shook. They fought it for a second but then sighed and brought the knife down.

"You have three seconds to die." They said in a hollow tone. Sans peeked over his shoulder, his left eye blazing blue.

"I'll give you one." His hand shot up straight to the sky as a grid of bones followed from the ground and encased Chara in a box of pain. It only took a few seconds for their soul to shatter.

 

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back-"

"Wow." Flowey growled, his eyes dark, a frown dragged over his face. Then his eyes turned hollow and a crooked cut out smile went up on his mouth. "You pretend to be hurt so you can get your petty revenge huh? Does it feel good knowing you tricked them? You sure got them huh?" Flowey grinned angrily, his grit teeth taking up most of his face. "One more meaningless death to add to the pile." His face sunk in monstrously. "You aren't even trying to save Frisk are you? You can't even feel guilty because you don't have to remember all the times you failed them." Sinking in even deeper Flowey's face looked like a dried up corpse. "But I do."

"What are you talking about?" Undyne snapped, wanting a quick and direct briefing so they could go fight.

"What happened last time Flowey? We will do better this time I promise!" Papyrus said confidently. Flowey glared at Sans, whose eyes were dark and his smile tense under Flowey's scrutiny.

"Every time, all of you keep fighting Chara. You hardly try to talk to them to reach Frisk and if the monster you love dies you throw away any progress and just kill them."

"I would never do that Flowey! Are you sure?" Papyrus asked, while Undyne and Sans remained quiet.

"Well..." Flowey was taken off his track, pausing to reflect on the past fights. Papyrus had never had the chance to finish Chara off since he usually died first but when he was alive he did try talking. "Not so much you...these two though are _real_  good friends to Frisk."

"Excuse me?! How about you compare all of your kills to-" Undyne held her spear up to Flowey, threatening to slice his bulbous head clean off the thin stem.

"This is good. We've been messing up so far so this time we really gotta work on getting through to the kid. Don't attack unless its an emergency. We're going to talk to them...and I think Papyrus should lead us." Sans interrupted Undyne, having regained his composure and easygoing chuckling tone.

"Yes! That is a great idea brother! I have a moving speech I have been working on! Follow my lead!"

"Anything else you want to warn us about?" Sans asked while the other two almost rushed into the forest. Flowey silently reflected on their intentions and his own motivations before deciding he would trust them.

"Chara can make knives using magic. I know wow. They're going to throw them at you guys and make them shoot up from the ground. Fish lady needs to keep her eyes on her feet because she's bad at dodging the ground attacks. Papyrus just needs to move faster." Flowey summarized what they needed to know which everyone soaked in while they entered the thin path into the forest.

They heard the music start up before they could even see Chara ahead. While Chara's mouth was set in an emotionless line their clenched fists shook and their body lurched subtly with their hard breathing.

"That look on your face..." Sans noted, stepping forward in a relaxed but prepared posture. "Seems like you've got a bone to pick with us." The skeleton could almost feel the rage skitter up Chara's body at his joke which made him smile even harder. Papyrus didn't berate his brother for the pun, but Sans could see him frowning from the other side of Undyne.

"Hey freak unless you want more of what we've been giving you, you'd better let Frisk go!!" Undyne shouted, swiping her spear threateningly across the air, almost smacking Sans in the face with the blade which he eyed warily. In reply, knives spun from the darkness by Chara's head, swirling and twirling in a menacing dance.

"Please! We don't want to fight and I'm sure you do not either! It isn't too late for us to go back as a family!" Papyrus pleaded, holding his hands at his chest to contain the fiercely blooming emotion he felt. Chara shot their hand forward, towards the monsters and sent the knives flying at them. They were able to dodge and deflect them all, setting their pacifist plan in motion.

"Aren't you tired of all this?" Sans asked.

"FIGHT THIS THING FRISK!" Undyne roared, casting her voice in hopes of igniting their friend's fighting spirit.

"Violence isn't the only answer! You don't have to be alone! Maybe if you just talked to us we could be more helpful than you think!" Papyrus said in the middle of hopping over a ring of blades.

"You're wasting your time here kid."

"ARE YOU GOING TO LET THE THING THAT KILLED TORIEL AND ASGORE GET AWAY WITH IT FRISK?"

"Let us help you!"

"I bet you really wanna go home huh kiddo?"

"OBLITERATE THE EVIL INSIDE OF YOU! ROAST IT ALIVE WITH YOUR BURNING HEART!"

"There are some mixed messages going on here..."

"Frisk! You've gotta be in there somewhere, watching all of this, part of this somehow! You can fight them! You can say no and walk away!" Flowey called out to them.

"YOU'RE TOO MUCH OF A WEENIE TO BE THIS BAD!" While they all did their best to say anything that would bring out even a spark of Frisk they had to avoid every attack that was thrown at them. They struggled to find a moment to speak, or to think of what they could say while rolling, dashing, and charging against deadly waves of attacks. Undyne and Papyrus were hit with gruesome wounds but they fought on. None of them tried to attack Chara even once. Exhaustion was creeping in, clutching some more firmly than others. There seemed to be no end in sight. Chara's expression didn't shift in the slightest. It was just lifeless and blank. Perhaps if they could see their eyes more emotion might come through but the only tell the kid had was their flat mouth. Undyne had to stand in front of Sans to fend off the knives flying at both of them as the tiny skeleton collapsed in a heap of shaking bones, huffing and puffing. Somehow, they made it through and Chara stopped attacking. None of them knew what they had said to get through to them, they had just been shouting out encouragement, taunting Chara, or trying to sympathize with them repeatedly. Still, they took the break gratefully, resting for a turn instead of doing anything else.

"You're all idiots..." Chara spoke at last, lurching as they breathed, each part of their body moving independent of the others. "Even if they _can_ hear you there's nothing they can do. I let you all get out, be happy for a while but now it's my turn to take what I was promised. Frisk gave me their soul after we killed every single one of you. They helped me come back and now their body, their determination, their soul is mine to do it all over again!"

"You expect us to believe Frisk would hurt any of us? You're the idiot!" Undyne pumped a fist up to her face, her bicep bulging, her hand shaking from the firm grip.

"Frisk couldn't hurt a Froggit!" Papyrus added.

"Froggit about it." Everyone looked at Sans wryly as he was being unhelpful. He just grinned and looked away, shrugging. Gliding over the pressing moment of silence that followed, Chara laughed and immediately launched a barrage of knives at the three monsters.

"Papyrus come here!!" Undyne shouted, twirling and bashing her spear into the oncoming knives, going faster and faster as more swarmed her. The tall skeleton obeyed, jogging behind the fish warrior to where his brother was sitting. "NGAAHHHHH" Undyne juggled three monsters' worth of attacks, blinking around her friends in a blur of speed. They sped up, she sped up until they could hardly see her, only catching the clinking of the attacks being knocked away around them.

"Undyne are you alright?" Papyrus asked, not wanting to be useless when he could be fighting as well.

"These ones are easy! Leave it to me Papyrus! I'll protect you guys!" Undyne was empowered by the threat of losing her friends and with such a heavy consequence she couldn't lose. "TALK!"

"Ahhh!" Papyrus danced around nervously for a moment and then composed himself. "Ah-hem! Frisk are you in there? Did any of this reach you? Look at how strongly your friends are fighting for you! Do you see how much we love you?" Papyrus called.

"We're trying not to kill you this time since apparently we've been doing that a lot. Sorry about that." Sans called over the almost uninterrupted ring of metal being struck.

"Yes even I apologize for the deaths these two caused as that must have been horrible! If you need a firm but gentle embrace know that skeletons are perfect for that type of thing! But only if knives are not involved! Hugging and knives are no fun at all."

"Nope." The ground around Papyrus and Sans sparkled with lurking edges of metal. They waited, immobile until one was set off and it shot up, snagging the speedy fish and stabbing her. Thrown off of her pace she was stabbed by a few more flying knives and went down hard.

"Undyne!" Papyrus rushed to her body, cradling her broken armor to his chest with great effort. Chara threw their hand towards the fallen warrior and Papyrus leaned in ready to take the blow for her but before anything could be sent Sans swiped his hand up to the sky, launching the kid up into the air. It was such a swift motion he didn't hold control and just chucked the child so they came back down and slammed into the earth. The smaller skeleton got to his feet, blocking both Undyne and Papyrus from any further attack. His eye lit up and he let his body sway to the music, catching the beat and preparing to battle. "Undyne! Hang in there! Why did you try to defend us both by yourself?"

"...it's hard...to talk and fight...besides...I bet it looked....really cool..." Undyne groaned, each word weakly tumbling from her tongue.

"Are you okay?" The concern in Papyrus' eyes was heart wrenchingly sincere, it reminded Undyne of just how much she loved that guy.

"Of course I am...do ...you think I'd go...down that easy?" Her body began to fade, the tips of her limbs losing their form and turning to particles.

"You don't look okay..." Papyrus whimpered, noticing the loss of her legs that was spreading to dissolve all of her.

"I won't...leave you two.....to...fight this thing...." She grit her teeth and glared up at the sky with a bleary, glazed eye. "There's...no way....you could....kill it...and Sans...might just pass out...." Meanwhile as she said this Sans was chucking Chara around the forest, smashing them into the trees where bones waited to jab into them after every hit.

"Then stop turning into dust!" Papyrus' voice creaked, tears prickling his eye sockets.

"I'm.....trying....It's all...pulling apart....I can feel my body...trying to seperate...but I can't...." She squeezed her eye shut, pulling into herself with the last of her strength. Her armor clattered, her entire body rippled like a wave and then a great blinding light burst from her and rushed away the darkness. When Papyrus could see again he realized Undyne was no longer in his arms. He saw spiky black metal legs which continued to more spiky black armor that shielded his now standing fish friend with her sharply pointed red hair jabbed out to the side of her head.

"I know this feeling....this desire pulsing through me. The wishes of the people I care about, their hopes and dreams. We all want so strongly to save Frisk, to salvage what we can of what was a fantastic life. Sans, Papyrus, Toriel, Asgore, I can feel your hearts like thunder in my chest. I can feel what you want me to do. I can make your dreams come true, I can protect you, and I CAN BEAT THIS PUNK!" Undyne opened her eyes, a flashing spear of light shooting out from the eye her eyepatch had previously covered. She clenched her fists and denied death a hold on her. She chucked a spear at Chara which they weren't fast enough to suddenly block. "You're going down for what you've done. I Undyne the Undying will personally punish you for your crimes!" Despite them being underground, and also that it wasn't raining something like thunder roared in the sky, loudly adding an almost deafening cheer to Undyne's speech.

Sans slumped over, ready to rest and let Undyne take over fighting. Chara was biting on a frown, unhappy that Undyne was able to successfully transform. Sans sighed and then glanced up at the side of Chara's face. A joke came to his head that he was about to say but before he got the chance he noticed something red glinting at him from beneath the child's bangs. They lifted their hand up, and Sans dove to the side just to meet a bed of knives that extinguished the blue fighting flame.

"Sans!" Both Undyne and Papyrus cried out for the skeleton. Before Papyrus could get to his feet to run for his brother's dust, Undyne put out a hand to stop him.

"You're only going to get hurt. Let me protect you Papyrus!" Undyne ordered, her voice resonating from deep within her. Instead of listening, Papyrus stubbornly shoved by her.

"Maybe this keeps happening because you and Sans keep fighting!" He shouted, wiping away his tears as he ran towards Chara.

"Human! Aren't you satisfied by the hurt you've caused?"

"Papyrus no!" Undyne summoned spears around her friend, deflecting the blades Chara launched at him from above.

"You obviously hunger for pain, and you've brought me more than I can bear! You've taken away one of my best friends...a-and now my brother!"

"Papyrus get over here now!" Undyne threw her hands all around, kept occupied by how many knives Chara was trying to stab Papyrus with while he attempted to reach their heart.

"Please!" Papyrus dropped to his knees in front of Chara, earnest misery torn from his bones. He cried in front of the child, staring into their cold empty eyes. "Stop this! Let's all just go home....please...." Chara opened their hand, a knife appearing between their fingers. Papyrus saw it, and felt his bones shake but stayed where he was. "You don't have to do this..." Chara drew the knife back over their shoulder and slashed it, cutting the skeleton's head clean off from his thin vertebrae.

"PAPYRUS!" Undyne screeched, abandoning defence and throwing spears at Chara without a breath's pause between them. Chara had to be up and deflecting immediately, then running and ducking around circular formations of spinning spears that dove in with intense speed. Papyrus watched his body fade away, his tears rolled off the side of his face to the ground.

"Frisk...please don't kill Undyne..." He whispered, and his skull drifted away as well.

"OUT OF ANY OF US, HOW COULD YOU KILL PAPYRUS HEARING THAT? HE JUST WANTED OUR FRIEND BACK! YOU KILLED HIS BROTHER RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!" Undyne screamed in an uncontrollable rage, spears appearing and stabbing down at Chara milliseconds apart from the ones before them. The pace was beyond unfair, to just downright cruel. "HE BEGGED YOU ON HIS KNEES AND YOU STRUCK HIM DOWN!" Chara couldn't keep up, there were too many too quickly and each spear tore their health to ribbons. Their world blurred, their body went sluggish and unresponsive. Undyne was so blind with fury she didn't feel the burn in her muscles for a break. She didn't realize that her attacks were slowing down and dwindling from groups to singular spears jabbing across the clearing like lightning strikes. The last spear she threw, just as Chara felt like everything was going to go black, swept over their head just as the child dropped to the ground. Undyne panted raggedly, fiercely trying to regain her breath and energy so she could continue.

Chara lay on the ground, taking a moment to breath themself while one hand drifted down to their pocket. As their elbow bent up to the sky and their hand reached their hip they were stopped by Undyne's gauntlet clutching their arm like a vice. Her panting sounded more like a snarling animal hovering above their head.

"Do you even care? You called us your family....How can you do this to us?" Despite their resistance, Undyne lifted them off of the ground. Chara made their body slack so it was as difficult as possible for her to carry them. They refused to look at her. "Frisk! I know you can hear me! How can you let this happen to us? If it was me....I would never...." Undyne shuddered and then breathed in sharply. "I would never allow myself to hurt the people I loved! No matter what was inside of me I would fight it to the very end, even if I had to destroy myself to protect them!!" She paused, as if waiting for a response, but Chara stared down at the ground, limp like a ragdoll.

"Is...this thing...Chara," At the sound of their name the child perked up, "Are they so strong you can't do anything? I've seen you fight...Sure you can't hurt anybody but you're not weak...Your heart is the most powerful thing I've ever seen...It saved us from being trapped underground and from that time none of us can remember with the flower. They had at least six human souls...the power of all of those souls...there's no way this evil is greater than that!!" She got no response, and couldn't read the child's face while they were looking away. "Right?" She prodded for a reply, shaking the child's arm and by extension the entire child.

Chara turned their head back to at last look at Undyne. As they did, the fish warrior had a powerful hope that the face she would see would be her friend's. She wished dearly to see Frisk, crying and apologizing for what they had done and she, of course would forgive them. Instead, the child was smiling at her with a horrible jack-o-lantern grin and large, thrilled, red eyes. There was no repentance on their face, no regret, and no semblance of Frisk anywhere to be seen inside. Undyne threw the child to the ground, slamming their face into the shadowy earth and then put a heavy metal boot on their head to keep them down. Despite how Chara tried to push against it they weren't given any space to get up and couldn't contort their arms in a way to send knives at Undyne without impaling themself.

"You can't even hear me...can you? This monster's probably got full control of your body...Because if you could hear me there's no way you'd smile like that, Frisk." Undyne sighed and looked over at the empty battlefield where she stood with no friends behind her. She fought for them, for Frisk but she was alone. There was nobody left to fight for. The only one remaining was Flowey, staring at her from the edge of the field. He looked sad, but hopeful. Finally, they had successfully captured Chara but there was no guarantee that they could bring Frisk back. She had no idea where they would even start. Sans seemed to know everything about the child and he was gone. And Papyrus...he wouldn't have been any help but Undyne's heart felt like it would pop imagining going on without him. All the times they spent together lingered at the back of her mind while she did her duty for their world.

"Kid...Chara, you're done. I, Undyne am going to punish you for all the friends you've murdered. You're under arrest by the authority of the underground Royal Guard by its ex retired Captain." She pushed down on Chara's head and heard the kid groan and squirm from the discomfort. It was reassuring that they at least felt pain. She didn't see it as Frisk anymore. Frisk was gone. Papyrus was gone. She'd have to walk by her charred house on the way out of the underground where both of her friends had set it aflame with her. Tears stung at her eye while the other continued shooting out spears of light that died off in the darkness. "You're....gunna be locked away for a long time...until we can figure out what to do with you...I'm sure..." Without Toriel and Asgore, how could she return to the school to teach? It'd be shut down. "Alphys will...make a machine that will....force you out of that body...even if Frisk is just an empty shell now, I'll make sure you pay for what you did to everyone." Papyrus... she'd never hear him laugh again or be able to make snow monsters with him when winter finally came. She hated the cold but she had been looking forward to every season with her family on the surface. "I'll....make....you....pay..." Her chest felt like it was burning inside, singing through her flesh to burst out and engulf her entirely. Her tears carried that fire down her face. She was slowly losing the feeling in her feet. "Damn it..."

Undyne grit her teeth, barely able to contain the unbearable sorrow she felt. Chara felt the tiny droplets of water fall on one of their arms that was squirming at their right side. They knew Undyne was crying but they didn't see her raise her arm. A sharp whir came from behind them and a blue light dimly lit up on the floor beside their head.

"No, stop!" Flowey's voice screamed. Undyne didn't listen and with the child pinned to the ground she stabbed her spear down into the side of their head.

 


	11. Chapter 11

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said, alive again and oblivious. Flowey was stunned silent. His mouth fell open, his wide eyes drifted over to the armored fish monster. She caught the look and raised an eyebrow curiously at it.

"What?" She asked with a defensive edge. Flowey's face sank in, turning black and empty. A dark frown dug all the way down to his petals. Undyne grimaced at the unsightly expression.

"You...executed them." Flowey struggled to grasp the reality that they were there, they had won and Undyne threw it all away. "They were defenceless...and hurt and you held them down and killed them."

"What?! No I didn't!" Undyne snapped. Flowey turned his face down, feeling like his sunken black eyes might just consume his entire face.

"You were **selfish**  and you killed a defenceless child because your friends were **dead**!" Flowey shouted. He looked up at her, grinning now from eye to eye fiercely. "You murdered them. Everything we're doing this for you decided that didn't matter at all and you did what **you wanted**!" Papyrus held Flowey a little closer to his chestplate.

"Flowey..." He said softly, trying to reel the flower in from his rage.

"Hey now-" Sans also attempted to wind down the situation.

"So really Frisk doesn't matter to you do they? I see how it is now, all of you. You want a perfect...happy ending where you all make it through. If Frisk didn't have the ability to go back I bet you would've slaughtered them immediately and that would've been it." Flowey let out a sharp, cutting laugh and then changed his face to Frisk's usual blank expression. "But you can kill them over and over again...hoping we can defeat Chara but the next time nobody has to die." Their features sunk in, turning wrinkled and sour like a human corpse. "It doesn't matter how many times Frisk has to die." His tone wavered, fluctuating between his usual high pitch and a raspier clawing voice. "Nothing's changed...it's still kill or be killed here." Nobody had anything to say to Flowey. The silence that followed weighed greatly on all of them, clutching their throats like something they couldn't swallow. "Let's hope they give up soon..." Flowey's face fell. He sank into his flowerpot and put his face down in the dirt. It seemed like he had nothing more to say and after the three monsters shared an anxious look at each other they all went into the forest.

Flowey was put into the same spot at the side of the clearing by Papyrus, catching a sympathetic frown by the skeleton before he left to crowd together with his softly speaking friends. Flowey watched them fight Chara like all the other times, though without any guidance Undyne and Papyrus sustained heavy hits quickly. Flowey couldn't bring himself to regret not briefing them. He was too angry and honestly he just didn't care what happened to them. They deserved to be cut up. He watched Chara as they threw their phantom blades and as their body rolled disjointedly to the music when they were idle. They moved like each body part had its own mind and rhythm and wasn't connected to a single hub. They seemed more focused in the battle than usual: hunched over, eyes shining sharply from under their hair, putting more effort into each movement than they usually would.

Undoubtedly, by luck the monsters were able to survive quite a long time while chipping away at Chara's health. Papyrus and Undyne were weakened and Sans was lagging behind the more exhausted he became but together they were making progress and victory seemed possible. Flowey thought bitterly about the possibility that they all get their 'happy ending' after Undyne had tossed aside their previous success. Wouldn't it be just perfect if the world taunted him in that way? That seemed to be its intention because with all of them fighting together, sending bones and flying spears at Chara and utilizing teamwork to dodge most of the child's attacks they brought them to their knees. Papyrus stopped everyone before any accidental deaths could occur, recognizing that Chara was too weak to carry on.

Flowey couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that they'd really won and that their dark, selfish tactics had paid off for the better. They closed in on the child, ready to apprehend them.

"It is over Creature! You cannot fight anymore!" Papyrus announced.

"Time to give up buddy. We're capturing you."

"Yeah! And we're going to rip you out of that body even if we have to do it with our bare hands!!" Undyne pumped her fists at her side.

"Give us our friend back!" Papyrus demanded. Chara's body shook in a heap on the ground. They lifted their head up with one hand while the other scooped down to their legs and brought something up under their hair. They looked up, snow pouring out from between their fingers as they squished as much as they could past their teeth. They shut their mouth and smiled while gulping down all of the snow.

"Wow...you're the worst kind of person aren't you?" Sans said, giving the kid the flattest smile he could manage. Chara threw up their hand, sending out knives and continuing the fight. As the weary team was worn down by brutal flying attacks, outside the forest something like a jet roared by. It caught Sans' attention and distracted him long enough to be impaled. Ketchup spurted out of his bones and into the air while his shocked eyes were still stuck on the path they made to exit the forest.

"Sans!!" Papyrus cried out, shifting his focus from the oncoming attacks to his brother's disintegrating body. He ran over to him as if somehow he could stop his brother from fading away. A few knives clipped past his body, nicking his bones in his carelessness.

"Papyrus wait!!" Undyne screamed. Chara's eyes were on the skeleton and an unintentional smile crept up on their lips. Undyne wasn't going to let them hurt her friend. The ground below Chara's hand glowed with a blue circle and out of it shot a thick magical spear that stabbed up into the child's arm. They recoiled and clutched their arm to their chest, crying out in pain. To ensure they didn't pull out any more attacks against Papyrus Undyne kept the spears coming, copying the annoying attack Chara had used against them. It reminded her of chasing Frisk down in Waterfall, when she was hunting them. She wondered if perhaps, things would have turned out better if the child had just been captured and brought to the king. It didn't matter so much what could have been since Frisk had earned a place in the fish warrior's heart and she loved them. She'd fight Chara as many times as it took to save them.

Undyne checked to her side to see if Papyrus was alright. He was still alive but by the way he was clutching Sans' puffy winter coat to his face and shaking she assumed he was far from okay. She quickly looked back to check on Chara who seemed to be struggling to stay on their feet. They had their hand in their pocket, but wasn't taking anything out of it. They seemed to be debating what their next course of action would be. Their eyes went from Undyne: panting heavily, sweating, and lurching with every breath, to Papyrus who was entirely vulnerable at the moment. Weighing their options they pulled their empty hand out of their pocket and shot it up into the air. Papyrus was stabbed to dust and despite Undyne's valiant attempt to dodge, her armor was heavy and the knives were faster. She too was skewered and then repeatedly slashed until she faded away.

Flowey watched them all die and while before he held nothing but resentment it was all quickly replaced by fear and regret. He should have warned the monsters. He should have prepared them so they would've had an easier beginning. How were they supposed to know Chara had been prepared with healing items? Now, with all of them dead, nobody was left to send them back...Except Flowey. Chara let out a long, overwhelmed sigh. They looked around, with nobody left to challenge them and dared to chuckle in disbelief and then laugh. Their cackle echoed in the dark battle arena, ripping hauntingly from their throat with inhuman sound. Then their eyes locked onto Flowey and a knife glinted in their hand. The first step they took towards the flower sent a seizing shock jolting up his stem. He wanted to scream for help, but there was nobody to come. Chara took another step and all Flowey could think was that he didn't want to die.

"No..." Flowey's entire body shook, he didn't know if he should run or not but where would he go that the child wouldn't find him? Chara sighed again, a laugh sneaking in on their breath. Flowey wanted to live, no matter what. He was determined not to die. "I'm sorry!" He cried out. Chara stopped and tilted their head as they internally questioned why Flowey would say that. Then dozens of small white magic bullets formed in a ring around the child and Chara's smile fell right off of their face. They didn't have a chance to kill Flowey before all the bullets dove in and shattered their soul.

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said. He glanced over to the flower and noticed fat tears pouring down his face. "What happened?" He asked, planting his feet in no rush to hurry into the forest.

"Why are you crying?" Undyne asked. Papyrus held Flowey closer and bent over his head to see the flower's sadness.

"Do not cry Flowey! I know you must feel sad but be like me and remain strong!" Papyrus said, trying to be helpful.

"You all...." Flowey hiccupped and stooped his head low in shame. "I hate you all..." He whimpered shakily.

"Why would you hate us? What did we do-" Papyrus asked.

"ALL OF YOU! You're all....selfish...a-and you don't care about Frisk at all...you just keep killing them...you don't even try...it's your fault...I had to..." Flowey sobbed and sniffled, curling until his face was pressed deeply into his pot.

"Of course we care about Frisk! We wouldn't be chasing them down if we didn't care!" Papyrus insisted firmly. Flowey looked up slightly, gazing at Sans with tear stung, tired eyes.

"You're just here...because if you don't stop them the world is going to end...So long as that doesn't happen who cares about Frisk right?" Sans' eyes disappeared and his smile grew stiff.

"Of course not! Frisk is our friend and we're here to fight for them!" Undyne shouted, her voice cracking with her passionate volume. Sans and Flowey stared at each other for a moment while Undyne and Papyrus looked at them both and read the tension building between them.

"Why are you so torn up about killing them? It's not like it's anything new to you." Sans said finally in a cold, low voice.

"Sans!" Papyrus gasped. Flowey raised his head, managing a crooked, angry grin at the skeleton.

"I know now, what a real friend is like...someone like Frisk and they deserve better than this." Sans shrugged and turned his head to the side to chuckle thinly.

"So what, you feel something now? Or are you just obligated to be sympathetic because they helped you?" He asked, a very faint blue iris staring sideways at Flowey.

"Sans that's enough stop it!" Undyne smacked a hand hard on the skeleton's shoulder which snapped the white pupils back into his eye sockets. He shrugged again and his eyes curled up mirthfully.

"Sorry! Got a little rattled there! Heh." Flowey's hateful expression didn't change at all. Undyne looked over at the flower sternly.

"Got anything to tell us?" She asked. As his eyes rose up to meet Undyne's, Flowey looked more sad and guilty. He didn't want to be responsible for their absolute failure again.

"They can make knives...They throw them and make them pop up from the ground." That was all he said. He looked down, biting back on being more useful out of spite. He didn't believe they would save Frisk and hated himself for stooping to the level of killing the child himself. He didn't want to go back to that vicious mentality. He wanted to keep a hold on that sweet loving memory of caring about Frisk that was gradually drifting away. Flowey's tears didn't even feel warm like they used to, when he was hugging Frisk as Asriel. Undyne looked surprised and held a hand up to stop Papyrus from saying something. She nodded and then turned to lead them into the forest.

"Come on. We're getting Frisk back." She said, clenching her fists and pounding one with a dull thud against her chest.

"Yes! This time we'll do it!" Papyrus agreed optimistically and marched on ahead behind Undyne. Sans followed from behind and though Papyrus was between them, Flowey could feel the skeleton's eyes judging him. They entered the dark open field and Papyrus pulled Flowey from his pot to put him down in the ground. He couldn't stay long since Chara already had knives out and ready to throw at them but he lingered a moment to say.

"Don't give up. We'll get Frisk back." Papyrus smiled at Flowey, his eye sockets filled with hope. Flowey frowned at the cheery monster and shook his head.

"I don't want to see Frisk die again." He said and then ducked down into the ground, disappearing.

"Wh- Flowey?!" Papyrus stood up, searching around for the Flower who was gone.

"What?" Undyne called, summoning her spear, the battle beginning before they were all ready.

"Flowey left!" Papyrus exclaimed, running back to his friends as the knives flew towards the three of them.

"What?! Damnit!" Undyne growled, knocking back the blades with her spear. "Well that just means this is it! We're doing it this time no matter what! Give it all you've got you two cause we're on our own! NGAAHHHH!" She roared a mighty battle cry to energize herself and charged fully into the fight.

 

 

Flowey was planted outside of the entrance to the forest they made. He could hear Undyne yelling while the three of them fought. Occasionally, Papyrus or Undyne would try to shout something to Frisk but for the most part it was just the clang of metal and the whirr of magic. Flowey knew they were going to fail. They were either going to die or kill Chara to get another chance. How many times would they have to go back? Flowey felt tired and hopeless. He wasn't even the one fighting but he was fed up with it. He hated the weak, useless body he was in and how cold it felt to be inside of it. Really, he couldn't even be sad that Frisk kept dying. There was no empathy in him to truly ache for the child, he was just angry it wasn't panning out, and he felt he owed Frisk a great debt. He was chasing this ghost of love that he wanted another taste of so badly, and if he could just see Frisk again maybe he'd remember even just a bit of it. The fighting inside the forest continued for a long time but eventually Flowey heard the whoosh of wind sweeping away the magic of a monster's soul. They were dying. Flowey dreaded having to kill Chara again, but figured he'd probably have to. He didn't hear the second rush of a monster's body disappearing but heard Undyne scream for Papyrus. Flowey looked around at the white snow around him, and realized in that moment that he was so numb, he wasn't even cold. He looked to the left, away from the large ruin door, off into the distance where a rumbling sound was growing. Flowey squinted at something black in the air that was growing larger as the sound grew louder. It was like a flying box. It was too far away to recognize any of its shapes.

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said and glanced over at the flower who was looking around with dull surprise and then his eyes lowered in defeat. "You look like we've been doing this for a while." He noticed.

"Yeah..."

"Anything you can tell us to help?" He asked. Flowey drooped and sighed.

"They attack with knives, they have some kind of magic yes wow magic amazing watch the ground and they throw them. You guys keep murdering them so maybe not do that and try for once."

"You don't have to be snippy about it!" Undyne clicked her tongue and sneered at the flower. Flowey glared sideways at her, clenching his jaw to restrain himself.

"You don't have to remember every time we've failed. I do. And I'm tired. I don't want to do this anymore...You're all selfish. You don't care about Frisk, and you say you want to save the world but then if you're left all alone you give up and put it in danger again to get your friends back. You don't try to talk to Frisk and you can't pull your punches enough not to accidentally kill them! It's hopeless..." Flowey snapped at Undyne, his anger brief and dwindling by the end of his speech.

"Please don't give up..." Papyrus pleaded, patting Flowey gently on the head. "We'll try harder to talk to them this time. I don't want to lose my friend...I want to save them. Please...let's try again. We need you to watch over us."

"I get how you feel...though I guess I'm pretty lucky I don't have to remember all the resets huh?" Flowey was shocked when Sans spoke up to empathize with him. "I'm sure you really just want to take a nap right around now huh? When things are the worst all you want to do is sleep until they go away...but we have to keep trying. No matter how many times it takes...this is something we have to strive for. I'll admit maybe I was holding back all those times...it's hard to hope we'll actually do it. I bet previous Sans' haven't been trying very hard but I'll tell you what. I'll work hard if you do ok?" Flowey stared at Sans and the genuine kindness he was showing on his face. It gave Flowey the will to at least try again. He didn't feel so alone after that.

"Fine." Sans nodded and led all of them into the forest. Chara's knives were out, the waltz was pounding and shrieking around them, coaxing the blades to spin and dance about in the air. Chara was gritting their teeth, hunched forward and prepared to get serious. Papyrus set Flowey down and then hurried to his friends with seconds to spare before Chara rushed into attacking. The child seemed to be focused on Undyne, beginning their attack with the knives shooting up from the ground. They pin pointed her unsuspecting movements and slashed away at her health, practically neglecting Sans and Papyrus entirely. To protect their friend the two skeletons attacked Chara to get them off Undyne's back. They were just fighting, dodging what they could and hitting Chara with spears and bones. Flowey snapped, quickly losing faith in them.

"YOU AREN'T TRYING TO TALK TO THEM AT ALL! YOU'RE NOT TRYING!!" He screamed, seconds away from ducking into the ground and leaving again.

"You're right!" Papyrus agreed and stopped sending bones up from the ground towards Chara. Sans didn't stop immediately but the bones he sent, Papyrus blocked with his own. Shocked at his resistance Sans looked to Papyrus. The tall skeleton gripped his shaking hands tightly and puffed out his ribs for courage. He strode forward, taking up Chara's attention from attacking Undyne. Papyrus gulped thickly, keeping his sights on the blank faced child.

"Human!" He called, stopping a daring few feet from where Chara and their knives were poised. "I do not want to fight you!" Papyrus stamped his foot firmly into the ground, breathing hard to keep himself composed.

"Papyrus don't get so close!" Undyne warned him, rushing forward to get between the two before the child attacked. Papyrus lifted his hand behind him, raising a massive wall of bones up high from the ground. They rose up six times as high as Undyne could reach and blocked both her and Sans from the tall skeleton. Flowey ducked down into the ground and appeared on the other side of the wall so he could see what Papyrus was going to do. "PAPYRUS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Undyne screamed and began pounding the bone wall with her fists.

"It isn't too late to do something good with your life! To be good, Chara." Papyrus said, bending over slightly to be just a bit closer to the small child's level. Chara's hair concealed their eyes, and thus most of their expression but their mouth was almost a frown and parted uncertainly. Undyne was cracking the bones with punches that resonated through the ground. "Even though you've done really bad...murder-y things...and continue to go on that path I believe you can still turn things around!" Papyrus smiled at the child, who had just tried to kill him and who he knew had probably killed them before repeatedly. "You don't have to resort to violence. I think you are capable of a great deal more than what you think you are." Undyne smashed the bone wall, roaring angrily as she held her fist through the hole she made. As she began to climb through, a small skeletal hand caught her hip and stopped her. She looked down at Sans who was holding her back. His eyes were empty, his smile was tense, and he was sweating horribly but he was watching Papyrus silently. Even though Undyne's instincts told her to rush in there before her friend got hurt she stood back and gave the skeleton a chance to appeal to the human.

"Human! I, the Great Papyrus would like to be your friend! I see that maybe, you are just afraid and attacking us because of that fear. Perhaps, you lost your body in a horrible accident and our kind friend Frisk offered to let you borrow theirs but you're hogging it for your weird reasons. Whatever it is, even if you are an evil spirit that stole our friend's body I, Papyrus offer to teach you how to be good!" During his speech, Chara didn't attack. The child didn't even move which was the only reason Undyne and Sans remained on the sidelines. "Maybe, Chara you just need somebody...or some skeleton to accept you!"

"Somebony!" Sans shouted, hopeful that they were getting through to Frisk. Papyrus glared at his brother, smiling but looking very unamused about it.

"Ahem! I will do whatever it takes to help you, Chara!" Papyrus squinted, trying to see through the thick messy bush of hair sweeping over the child's eyes to tell if what he was saying actually did anything. The child lifted up their hand slowly while their arm shook. It was like they had never moved their hand before, it was shaking all over the place or retreating back and then shifting forward a little. Papyrus opened his mouth gleefully and reached out to take the hand the child was reaching to him with. "Taking my hand is the first step to your goodness, Chara!" Papyrus chimed. Undyne couldn't believe it, she was amazed with Papyrus' effective speech and the fact the child was actually reaching out to him for help. It seemed like they had finally done it. Though tense, both Undyne and Sans let their guards down a little and put their faith in Papyrus. Papyrus waited patiently with his big gloved hand held out for the child to rest theirs upon his own. He grinned at them, absolutely overjoyed to help the human and stop their fighting peacefully. The child pushed their hand forward and rose it up. They kept lifting it up and then Chara flicked up their wrist and encased the unsuspecting Sans and Undyne in a cell of knife blades. Papyrus' eyes shot open. An awful chill scurried down his bones from his spine to his fingers. He turned around and saw Undyne, mutilated by several tree sized knives. Her torn face stared at him. Her almost detached arm weakly tried to rise up and reach out to him before she turned to dust. Papyrus saw the top of Sans' head flying through the air, severed from the rest of him. His smile was split in half, his eye sockets emptily watching Papyrus. He turned to dust before the top of his head hit the ground. Papyrus stared at where seconds before, his friends had been waiting for him. His jaw dropped and the world blurred in a sea of tears. His wrists bore a heavy weight and swung down to his hips.

Flowey watched Papyrus take in that his friends were dead, and bitterness began to swell in the flower. Just like the others, Papyrus was going to kill Chara to get another chance at them all getting through it together. He was going to fruitlessly try to save everyone. Sometimes people just couldn't be saved. Flowey felt cold. He was one of those people.

"What about now?" Chara asked Papyrus. When the skeleton turned around and blinked the tears from his eyes he saw the child's face was dull. There was no expression, not even calm or tired relaxation. Everything was just flat and void. Papyrus' thin knees wobbled and then buckled sending him down onto them. His hands hit the ground and he watched his tears fall from his skull, coaxing more to follow. He shut his eyes and let them rush out of him, welcoming the horrible ache throbbing in his ribs.

"I am sorry..." Papyrus said weakly, his voice strained. "I wasn't strong enough...to protect my friends...I didn't change your mind fast enough to save them..." Papyrus sniffled and squeezed his eyes shut tightly in frustration. He dragged his fingers through the dirt, pulling some into his palms. Papyrus lifted his head and with a shuddering, tearful breath proceeded to smile at Chara. His eyes were full of pain but still he stretched up his cheekbones for the human. "It isn't too late for you. Y-you don't have to....destroy everything..." Papyrus's voice quivered on the edge of breaking apart. An audible rattle echoed from his bones in his chestplate. "I hoped...all you wanted was a real friend. Perhaps some great pasta....a-and some of my brother's terrible laughs...h-heh... but even now I will stay with you human. E-even in a world l-like this I....P-Papyrus will guide you. You can be a great person if you just try..." Papyrus opened his arms wide around Chara, tears pouring down his face, teeth gritting back a bubbling eruption of sobs. "Please...try..." He kept his arms open, leaving the choice of an embrace up to the child.

The knives Chara had made hovered over Papyrus' head, looming dangerously with their edges all pointed inwards at him. Chara's jaw trembled and their breathing stuttered oddly when they inhaled. There was a knife in their hand which they squeezed with their fingers. They didn't have to look down at it. They stared right into Papyrus' eyes and slashed the knife across his neck, beheading him. His body blew away into a pile on the floor while his head tumbled away from it. He looked sadly up at Chara and then down shamefully. "I am sorry I could not change your mind..." Papyrus said, deeply troubled by his failure. Chara attempted to walk over to the fallen head, struggling with every movement as their body chugged to a stop and almost went back. They made very slow progress but Papyrus was just steps away. They lifted a foot and placed it over Papyrus' face but again found it difficult to put their weight down onto it. Papyrus smiled up at the child, with big wet beads of tears in his eye sockets and guilty sad eyes he said, "Frisk, don't blame yourself for this." Chara shifted all of their weight to the foot on Papyrus' skull which creaked and resisted then suddenly gave and crumbled beneath their shoe. The skeleton turned fully to dust and the child was left standing in magical sand.

There was nobody left again and Chara closed their eyes. They exhaled slowly and then sobbed. Their arms wove around their chest as they curled forward. More sobs popped out of them and thick tears spilled out from their eyes. They bent forward until they fell to their knees still curling until their face was almost pressed into the dirt. Frisk wailed, clutching their arms so tightly it hurt. They let go so they could scoop up Papyrus' dust in their hands only for it to pour out between their fingers and from the sides of their palms.

"P-papyrus!" Frisk croaked out, their whole face scrunched in misery. "Undyne! Sans! Asgore! M-Mom!!" Frisk clenched their fingers over the dust which spilled out back into the pile where their tears fell and mixed in. Their friends didn't hear their cries. Nobody came.

"Frisk!" Flowey called their name and startled the human who had thought they were alone. They froze and then looked up with empty tear filled eyes. Their grimacing mouth flattened and a dusty hand rose to summon a ring of small blades to circle around Flowey. Flowey didn't move, and neither did the knives. The child's hand was shaking in the air, the fingers twitching like they were trying to close while the whole arm chugged like it was trying to pull back. "That's it Frisk! Fight them! You can do it!" Flowey cheered them on desperately. The child's face pinched, their eye twitched, their mouth opened and tried to curl up and down. "C'mon Frisk!!" Flowey cried out. The child threw their arm up to the sky sending the ring of blades up over their head. Frisk looked up in amazement at the control they had gained, smiling though their heart was being squeezed apart.

"You did it Frisk! You overcame Chara!" Flowey congratulated his friend, though the sentiment was bittersweet considering what was sacrificed. Frisk's face fell, back into the sway of the pain they felt. They looked down to Flowey and offered the flower an apologetic smile. Frisk pulled their hand down and looked at the dust coating their palm. The last thing they saw was their fingers curling tightly over Papyrus' remains before the knives all shot down into their body.

 

 

"Flowey-"

 

"FRISK!!" Flowey screamed, far too late to stop the child from going back and undoing everything. Tears flicked from his eyes when he whipped his head over to the forest entrance. "WHY?!" Flowey asked, gritting his chattering teeth together. "You idiot!! You were in control! You had your body! Why did you throw it all away?!" Flowey couldn't understand why Frisk would disregard their friends' sacrifices and doom the timeline and their future by risking another reset. "You're selfish Frisk! Just like the rest of them! You're selfish!!" Flowey crumpled into his pot, jerking softly with quiet sobs. "I don't want to go back in there...." He whimpered. Distantly, in the forest someone was crying and their voice carried quietly to the group.

"What happened?! Did we win or something?" Undyne asked.

"Papyrus....h-he talked to Chara like I wanted you all to...and it looked like it was working. He had this big speech about accepting Chara and then...Chara killed Sans and Undyne..." Flowey hiccuped but as he breathed he began to calm down. Undyne and Sans both shared a tenseness, knowing they had died in another time and possibly countless more before then to their friend's hand.

"But? Why are we back here?" Undyne demanded impatiently.

"..." Flowey was reeling at the loss of their victory. Why couldn't Frisk accept a life without their friends? Why couldn't they just move on for the good of the world. Flowey would've still been with them. Wasn't that enough? "I thought...Papyrus would be just like you two...and kill Chara because he was alone but he didn't. He still tried to get through to them...He said he would help them no matter what and..." Flowey lifted his head and his somber eyes spoiled the outcome for Sans who was staring intently at the flower. His pupils disappeared. "Chara killed him." Behind Flowey, Papyrus shuddered and the flower's pot was pulled closer to the skeleton's chestplate. "You actually...said sorry because Chara killed you..." Flowey shook his head. "Idiot...I can't even cry for you, you're so stupid." Sans stood like a statue, expression emptily cheery. Undyne's fists were shaking with anger but she felt a conflict of pain aching in her chest. Papyrus pressed his fingers hard into the clay pot they had borrowed from Asgore and frowned down at the ground.

"...You were yelling at the forest before. And we're back here. So we didn't fail yet. Why did they go back?" Papyrus asked in a choked voice.

"After killing you all...Frisk finally came out and they cried over your dust. They cried out for all of you...after you were gone. Like any of you could come save them...I was so glad they had broken through and overcome Chara. They had their body back and although Chara tried to kill me, Frisk stopped them." Flowey's face fell. His eyes sunk in and his frown withered and carved down his face. "Then they killed themself to start over." Papyrus gasped, his body drawing back in shock and then curled forward sadly.

"No..." Papyrus whispered.

"Wow..." Undyne muttered in disbelief. Sans didn't say anything. He was listening to the echoing sobs sneaking out from the depths of the trees' enclosure.

"They ruined what you all died for! Now we're right back where we started!" Flowey let out his frustration and smacked his head on the lip of his flowerpot then remained slumped against it, defeated.

"Not really." Sans said. Everyone looked at the small skeleton. "Papyrus...this time stay back from the kid okay?" With no better options Papyrus nodded, trusting his brother's unknown plan.

"Okay Sans but please be careful! I don't want you getting hurt!" Papyrus said with drooping, concerned eye sockets.

"Don't worry bro. I won't." Sans led them inside the dark forest, Flowey warning them about the knives while they walked. As the silence grew heavy and the shadows opened to crisp void they saw Chara with their head hung. Their messy hair swept wildly over their face, down past their mouth so no amount of emotion could be read on them. The child sniffled but stood silently otherwise. Papyrus set Flowey down, looking at the flower with uncertainty and worry. Once he returned to the others, though he stood a little farther back. A shrill electric waltz cued up in the battlefield. A bright red soul flickered out in front of the child's chest, bordered with a halo of golden light streaming from its every curve. Floating knives materialized in the air by their head. They flicked out their hand to send them flying at the monsters.

The battle began and while Sans jumped around the field dodging blades, and Undyne knocked them aside by using her spear as a shield, Papyrus just stood there. He appeared confused but didn't attempt to approach the child like Sans had asked. The smaller skeleton noticed that not a single attack was being thrown at Papyrus. Deciding it was an easier idea to just go where it was safe, Sans appeared behind his brother and thus the knives stopped flying at him as well just as he thought they would. Undyne noticed that the two skeletons were leisurely standing around while she was fending off attacks and so she went over and joined Sans by standing behind Papyrus. Chara threw their arm forward, the blades crept over to them. Most just dug into the ground in front of Papyrus' feet but some slid by just to the side of them before disappearing. Chara's teeth clacked softly when they bit them together.

"Hey kiddo? You feel bad for killing one of the coolest monsters Frisk's ever met after he offered to be your friend?" Sans called mockingly, not trying to hide how bitterly chipped his voice was. Chara whipped their arm through the air. Their whole body lurched forward with the motion but the blades just floated over and dropped in front of the tall skeleton. Papyrus felt hope bloom in his chest and tears prickle the corner of his eye sockets.

"Human! I am moved that you cannot muster the intent to hurt me! It does not matter how many times in some other world you have killed me! I, Papyrus offer to be your friend in this one too!" He opened his arms wide and stretched his bones in a warm, beaming grin to the child. "We can teach you about love and about caring about another monster...or human! You must be scared...not having a body but I am sure we can find one that nobody is using for you! I promise we'll help you if you just come back home with us!" Chara kept trying to throw knives in vain and Papyrus' smile felt heavier on his face. "I bet even Frisk would help you! I am sure you know just how kind they are and that they only want to help everyone! Once we get your new body you could even join our family!" Chara threw their arm forward and let it drop. Once their last attempt to throw a knife failed they drooped forward and let both of their arms hang. The music had drifted off a long time ago and left not even a rush of wind as atmosphere. There was nothing to hear. Papyrus was hopeful for success and perhaps the child had given up since for some reason they were unable to hit the skeleton. Papyrus stepped forward, smiling with his arms open wide to embrace the child. After two steps the child suddenly looked up, a red glint in their eye and when their hand shot up to the sky Papyrus heard a metallic shing slice up from the ground behind him and the garbled sounds of his friends in pain.

Papyrus looked back to see his brother's body, pinned in an outstretched motion towards his younger brother. It distorted and then sank into particles on the ground. The knives retracted with an ear piercing ring and Undyne's diced body dropped to the floor with a heavy thud and a crunch of metal. Papyrus turned back around, knowing the only way he could save Undyne was to appeal to the child but the words lingered and then cluttered behind his teeth. They clogged together with the things he wanted to say and what he wanted to cry out.

"Y-you don't have to do this..." He said, backing away from Chara, towards Undyne's fallen body in the hopes his precense could protect her. Chara lifted their head and from the darkness of shadows curling over their young, round face wide ruby irises shone at the skeleton. Their cheeks rose up and their lips split around a long set of teeth. Chara lifted their right hand up to the side and then swiped it down to their left hip. A blade appeared and slashed across Papyrus' body. Chara drew their hand back and did it again then again, faster. Papyrus lost the sensation of pain after the fourth swing and numbly watched his body hacked apart rapidly while his head fell to the ground and then turned to dust.

Chara puffed out hot breaths of air, their head falling followed by their shoulders like they weren't immediately connected. The manic grin on their face drooped and eased to just their mouth being partially open.

"H...ow...could you......Frisk?" Undyne struggled to hold herself together, to remain in their world fueled with pain and vengeance. A burning calling for justice she felt she had to bring down upon the heartless child. "Papy...rus...really...loved you. How could....you kill him?" Undyne chuckled weakly, unsure where the child was as she was unable to move and only had the endlessly rising tree trunks piercing the sky to look at. While she felt her body detaching from her mind, and her limbs slowly grow empty, a knife rocketed up from below her and propped her up in the air. The blade carried through her back and while bending her almost in half, its tip shone out from her stomach. She could see Chara upside down. The child's smile could've been mistaken for a frown if they weren't laughing. She was sure the way their shoulders were shaking that they were laughing. The world was shrill ringing, her own voice was like a muffled roar when she spoke. She had to hang on, she couldn't give up! She threw her arm over her head, sending a spear that weakly flew from her hand to a measly few feet from where she was suspended. When she saw her arm whiz by her line of sight she didn't actually see a hand attached to her wrist. It was terrifying to realize her body was disappearing.

"I...thought you...were strong....that you really...l..oved...us..." Undyne chuckled in a sickly wheeze. "Asgore...made you tea...every morning...Remember when he snuck you downstairs....to...watch movies with us...wh...en....Toriel went to bed? A-and...Toriel....who always loved you....always. She would've given you...the...world....You called...her...your...mother..." Three more thin blades shot up into Undyne's body, but she no longer felt anything but her rapidly fading senses. She couldn't hear the sound of her own voice anymore. "I...can't..." Undyne clawed to life, struggling to maintain her shape and carry out her duty to save the timeline or at the least get them another shot at trying. She threw her other arm over her head but despite knowing her shoulder rolled, there was no arm in sight. A spear fell right in front of her face. "Frisk....I hope you know....I loved...you...punk...All of you....were...the only family...I had...........I really....want....to go home...." As her vision faded to a murky grey she remembered Asgore, and playing with Frisk in his garden. She remembered sneaking down the stairs at night to steal another piece of Toriel's pie after they had already had a slice after dinner. She remembered the pillow war she had with Papyrus that ended in her almost throwing the couch through the wall. She was so glad Alphys hadn't shown up. "F...r...i...s..k....h...e..l...p...m...e...." Tears ran from her eye up into her hair. She wasn't sure where she was anymore, reality blurred into a series of thoughts drifting on their own plane. She didn't want to die! Light burst from her body and while a chorus humming magic sung around her body, blade after blade stabbed together at one center point. A bed of sharp points stuck up into her and though she had transformed into a new body with spiked, intimidating black armor she was littered with blades. Both of her eyes were open wide in shock, a fresh sensation of agony tore into her new form and set to rip it apart with haste. She saw Chara with their hand up in the air, their whole body wobbling and rippling into waves.

"D...o...n...'t.....g....i...v...e....u...p..." The world turned black and all she had was the sound of her own quiet, weak voice. "P...l...e...a...s...e...." She heard footsteps and in the blurry mixture of the world a child's face grew large enough for their features to be seen. She felt her body drip down the knives and stretch like it had no true shape to begin with. Like she was becoming a liquid but she had to hang on. "F...r...i...s....k..." Undyne squeaked hopefully. The child lifted something silver above her and then brought it down to pierce through her chest. She felt it lodge into her very soul and sever it in two. "Human?....heh....heh.....where....I....don't....see......." Everything faded away and the melting blob that was the fish monster dropped to the ground. Chara kept the knife they had used to finish Undyne held in the air, where her chest had been moments before. They breathed in a quiet shudder while the knife began to shake with a soft clatter. A single blue droplet rolled down from beneath their bangs and curled around their cheek. They turned their head, and looked at where Flowey was planted, no longer petrified but mildly saddened by the failure. His eyes held disappointment up to the child as well as anticipation for just who would emerge and what they would do. The child's fingers uncoiled from the handle of the blade, letting it fall and clatter on the ground. More tears fell down their face from blank, sightless eyes. Their hand fell and swung at their side, dragging down their shoulders with an overpowering burdan. Just staying upright seemed to be a daunting task as their whole body craned and drooped forward like it was drawn to the ground.

"Frisk?" Flowey called to the child he hoped had once again gained control in their grief. The child let out a long sigh and then lifted both of their hands to inspect the dust on their skin. Teardrops fell and mixed in with the magical powder, making it almost sparkle in their palm. "Frisk...just...give up on getting your perfect ending! This is just fine!" Flowey was slowly growing nervous the longer the child didn't answer him. He worried that Frisk would kill themself again, put them through hell in their stubbornness for a perfect ending. He certainly wouldn't put it past them. "C'mon Frisk!" Flowey urged the child to speak. He quickly became frustrated and sunk into the ground, to pop back up closer to where the child stood. At his movement, the human's eyes shifted over to where he was and Flowey saw how hopeless they seemed. Eyes that had long forgone rest, with weariness sewn into their lashes. Their whole face was sagging in a tired way Flowey had never seen before. The child sighed again and hung their head, a drape of hair masking just who it was that piloted the child's body. Both of their hands fell to their side just as they gave up standing and let the ground pull them down to meet it. Their knees were scraped, digging down to catch their fall. Sitting on their legs their entire body continued to battle the sheer gravity of the world. The child sighed again in resignation and shook their head, hair sweeping left and right.

They didn't say anything for a long time, but they didn't move either which gave Flowey hope perhaps Frisk had finally concided in their desperate fight to best the monster in their soul.

"Frisk...." Flowey called their name one more time and curled up to try and capture their gaze once again. The child's head shifted towards the flower, and then turned towards him while their hair parted out of the way. There were no eyes to meet, no smile to read, only empty blackness. Their face was hollow, and sharp like it were precisely carved and any flesh beyond their skin scooped out.. A crescent smile cut up their cheeks, right up into the empty holes of their eyes. The child laughed, their body shaking but the sound was a hellish roar that shrieked from some place beyond their form. Flowey could do no more than look on in horror. The thought didn't occur to him to run away. He was already dead.

"Finally." Chara spoke, in a single familiar child's voice. The voice Flowey knew well from a time long ago. It was the same voice he had longed for, had forgotten and turned sweet. Hearing it again, knowing what he knew twisted it sinisterly. Chara gazed out at the field before them, and the piles of dust left in their wake. They chuckled with a squeaky pitch and then their black eye holes turned up with glee.

 


	12. Chapter 12

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said. Looking at the flower, Sans could tell they had already been sent back but something absolutely terrible must have happened. The flower was sweating, staring with wide orbs for eyes sunken into his round flower face. His tiny body was stunned stiff but every breath he harshly wheezed out wobbled and wavered from a tremor deep in his core. "That look can't mean anything good. Have we done this so many times there's just no hope anymore?" Sans asked, trying to observe and read what he wasn't able to remember by what little clues were presented to him.

"W-we can't...we can't go in there again...." Flowey whispered, fearful to even let his voice slither from his throat like that would coax Chara and their monstrous grin out from the forest to kill them.

"Why not?! C'mon we can handle the kid!" Undyne said, leaning back on her hip.

"All the times...w-we've been going in there....I thought you guys were making progress somehow...wearing Ch...t-them down but we're just making it worse. They're getting stronger...they really are a monster...." Flowey kept his eyes glued to the darkness beside them, imagining phantoms of red eyes watching them, waiting for them. He sat on edge, predicting the moment when Chara would pop out at them, forgoing the laws of reality to split them apart. They'd just appear, he'd blink and they'd be there and he'd be dead. He had never been so scared in his life.

"How could this be making them stronger? They like us beating them down over and over?" Sans asked, eyes empty and serious.

"Wowie they must have a real messed up sense of humor!" Papyrus chimed in to which Sans nodded gravely in agreement. Flowey didn't look at them once he had focused on the forest. He could feel the intent of what waited inside beckoning them, hungry to tear them to pieces. He didn't want to die. That look on Flowey's face set a preposterous difficulty for them ahead that led Sans to decide they would wait for more power before charging in.

"The kid isn't going anywhere...let's wait it out until Alphys gets here so have a better 'shot'." Sans said, his pun gliding right over Undyne and Papyrus' heads. Flowey was too distraught to pay even the slightest bit of attention. Sans cleared his throat and scuffed his slipper into the cold dirt. "She'll be here any minute I'm sure." Undyne waited with them, but her energy built up. She went from tapping her metal foot to pacing back and forth, to walking in circles around all of them in a brisk march.

"Undyne...you're making me dizzy watching you walk around so fast." Papyrus said. Undyne didn't stop. She did open her mouth to reply until a distant roaring caught her facial fins. Down the path from the ruins, towards the town something was tearing through the sky. Within seconds it grew louder and louder, sourced to a small box headed towards them in the sky. Papyrus and Undyne both squinted to see what was coming, and as Papyrus turned his body, blocking Flowey's sight off from the forest the flower began to panic and thrash in an attempt to exit the pot he was trapped in. The box drew closer and a panel of lights on its lower face came into view. Papyrus gasped sharply and kicked one of his thin legs back, his toe bones curling in his boots.

"It's Mettaton!!" Papyrus squealed and then bounded forward to greet the robot. He waved frantically in the air. "METTATON!" He yelled and from the sky the rectangular robot flipped his powerful jet of fire down towards the ground and lessened the blast's power until he was resting on the snow. A single thick wheel on a metal rod extended from inside the robot's bulky body which he stood up on and began softly shifting back and forth on it to balance.

"I almost didn't see you there darling~ Sure you've got those splashes of colour but white bones on snow are hard to make out! I'm glad you were waving for me or I might have flown right past you." Mettaton said, his panel of lights flickering with each word his rough, digitized voice spoke.

"Why is he here?" Undyne asked, jabbing a finger towards where the metal monster was. Papyrus resisted the intense desire he felt to touch Mettaton in some way, to feel his smooth rectangular body, or to hold his inviting and delicate hand. He turned to address Undyne which helped subdue the itching in his finger bones.

"I called him! I had a terrific idea that perhaps Mettaton could fly over the forest by our house to help us track down Frisk but then a lot of bad things happened and so I invited him to come help us fight Frisk instead!" Papyrus explained, suddenly beaming with cheer in Mettaton's precense.

"I had a few shows to do that I just couldn't cancel but when I heard the awful things that happened, well I couldn't leave my dear friends hanging any longer!" Mettaton slapped the back of his hand against the top of his front side, over his lighting box and curled back dramatically. "Who knows what could have happened to you without me to assist in saving our dear little human? Oh poor Frisk!"

"Yes! Poor Frisk! I'm so glad you made it in time, Mettaton! Thank you so much!" Papyrus gushed at the robot, preventing Flowey from seeing anything but the star or Papyrus' chestplate until Sans walked up beside his brother.

"Does he usually show up?" Sans asked quietly.

"We've fought Chara over 10 times and this calculator hasn't shown up once. This is new." Flowey gave Mettaton a dead look, well worn by his glamour and unsettled by the looming thought of Chara nearby.

"Huh..." Sans said idly. Undyne stepped over to be with the group as they continued to wait for Alphys. After a long moment of silence, Mettaton couldn't take it any longer.

"Why are we all just standing here?" He asked, folding his hands on his boxy sides.

"We're waiting for Alphys." Undyne answered, staring hard into the distance for even a flash of her little yellow girlfriend.

"Ah...." Mettaton responded. They waited longer and Mettaton spoke again.

"How long are we going to be waiting for her? Alphys has always had a nasty habit of being late...or rather sometimes she's on time but she spends so long lurking outside, building the nerve to show up that she ends up being incredibly tardy." Mettaton extended his long metal arms and crossed them over his front.

"As long as it takes. The kid is cornered inside the forest and she needs to bring me something to help us with them." Sans said, patiently standing around while slowly sinking deeper into his coat.

"I see...hmm...they look a little impatient though." Mettaton said, pointing towards the group. Confused by what he meant since it didn't relate to any of them, they all turned around and noticed a pair of shiny red eyes watching them from the shadows of the forest. A pale, expressionless face was dimly visible amongst the dark. The child watched them, not yet exiting the line between the shield of trees and the open path. None of them moved, afraid to stir the child and the child didn't move in return.

"Looks like waiting isn't an option huh? Let's go!" Undyne summoned a spear into her hand and chucked it by the Child's head to scare them back into the forest. It seemed to work as the eyes darted out of sight. She ran after them, expecting her friends to be right at her back.

"Ahhh wait Undyne!!" Papyrus called and jogged after her. Sans couldn't do anything but watch them go, and be forced to give up his plan of getting his blasters. They had a new edge of obtaining Mettaton though and he hoped that would help things.

"We're going after them right?" Mettaton asked, entirely unclear about any aspect of the plan.

"Yeah, go kick the kid's bolt." Sans said, shuffling towards the trees.

"Ha." Automated and scrambled, Mettaton still managed to sound dry when he 'laughed' at Sans' joke. They went inside the forest where Chara was waiting for them, knives out and ready and swaying to the playing waltz however Flowey noticed the tune was off. He couldn't place it, but the music had these notes that just didn't seem right. He also noticed that the empty, carved smile had returned to the child's face and served to unsettle him greatly just having to look at it again. Though their blades were moving, the child was absolutely static, hands at their sides like they weren't even going to fight but the intent was clear by how their soul lingered outside of their chest, bathing their green pajamas in a soft gold light. The halo around their red soul glistened strongly from the golden heart pendant around the child's neck and a quiet but high hum originated from one of the two.

"Th...that's Frisk? There's no way that's even human..." Undyne muttered to Sans anxiously as she took the stance for battle. The skeleton ignored the sweat chilling his skull as well as the worrying thought both he and Undyne shared.

"Darling you look monstrous! And I don't mean that as a compliment!" Mettaton spoke up in a booming stage worthy voice, and took to the music by swaying on his wheel back and forth. Chara seemed unphased by Mettaton's sudden appearance though reading emotion on their face beyond unbelievably horrific joy was impossible. Without moving an inch, Chara's knives turned their blades towards Mettaton and launched at the robot. He continued to dance on the spot, waving his hands in the air for additional balance.

"Mettaton!!" Papyrus called out, rushing back from where he had placed Flowey. The knives struck his thick metal body and bounced off of him with a heavy tink and then a loud ring. Chara's grin twitched down slightly.

"Is that the best you've got you filthy creature? This body is too tough for you to just stab through me! Fueled by my intense desire to protect my friends, and the fans I have no doubt you'll harm if we let you run free, I'm at my best to take you on!" Mettaton struck a heroic pose. Even without a spotlight or a dramatic camera zoom it was still rather impressive and powerful.

"You look awful as a faceless box." Chara's mouth returned to something a human would own, with a tongue and teeth and lips that curled and flicked like flesh would as they spoke. "How about you really bear your _heart_ to me Mettaton. See if it gets through to me?" They asked, curling their mouth into a toothy, malicious grin. Mettaton waggled a finger in the air and shook his body side to side.

"I'm afraid not you terrible thing. Naughty children don't get rewards. How about you be good again and I'll let you see my beautiful self?" Mettaton offered, with no legitimate hope the idea would work. His response was several knives bouncing off of his face. "A shame." They all started the fight with Chara, doing their best to avoid their attacks with the additional assistance and distraction of Mettaton. The robot seemed to steal the show, garnering most of the attacks in Chara's attempt to wear him down but his body was far too solid to pierce.

The group's health was wearing down rapidly, unaware that the attacks Chara was throwing their way had sped up greatly since the past battle attempts to unfair levels of speed. Sans was barely able to avoid them while Undyne and Papyrus bore their fair share of scrapes. Mettaton just posed on the ground, acting distressed while the knives bounced off of his body. He noticed that the other monsters were growing weary, and that Undyne especially seemed to be on her last legs of strength but of course gripped on to every ounce of power she had ferociously. Chara was dodging almost every attack they scrambled together at them and at the rate they were going, defeat was highly likely. Mettaton did not intend to see his friends die before him, he had come to help them after all. He got off of the ground only to sink down onto his wheel. He rose back up on a pair of tall, shapely black legs on bright pink high heeled boots. Sans was attempting to throw the child around the forest, slamming them into trees and the ground and Mettaton decided that was the perfect time to help. He strode forward with empowering clacks of his heel and once he got close enough to the floating child he gave them only a moment's warning.

"Hello there Darling." He said, reeled his foot back and then snapped the tension and let his foot fly forward. He kicked Chara into the sky with perfectly pointed toes. Hitting the child's body a resounding crack met his metal shin and the human's body flew up several feet into the air. Mettaton posed, leg held perfectly straight to the sky. He was sure he looked fabulous. He leaned back so he could see the impressed faces of his friends, though upside down. However they all just seemed uncomfortably shocked, Sans especially who still had his hand held out where the child used to be.

"What was that?!" Flowey screamed, watching as Frisk's body still soared up towards the top of the treeline. Mettaton stood back on both of his feet and shrugged at the flower.

"Are we not supposed to kill this creature to get our dear sweet Frisk back?" Mettaton asked, the lights of his screen turning red with a yellow question mark lit up on the display.

"NO!!!!" Flowey screeched. Chara slammed down to the ground, crumpled like a heap of garbage with their limbs bent and sticking up brokenly from the mound.

 

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back this is where you tell us what happened." Sans said. He noticed the heavy, incredulous expression on Flowey's face. "What?" He asked. The flower's jaw dropped, silence consuming him as he processed their failed attempt and the reset.

"What?! C'mon we don't have all day!!" Undyne shouted at the flower impatiently. Flowey closed his mouth and stared hard at the dirt in his pot.

"We need to wait here for a little while. Mettaton is going to show up and help us fight but can one of you please tell him we are not trying to kill Chara?"

"Ohh Mettaton is coming! Perfect! I was hoping he'd make it in time when I called him" Papyrus cooed, his cheekbones warming pink at the thought of his favourite famous robot.

"By the look on your face...I get the feeling things got way out of leg..." Sans said, grinning mischievously at the flower who scowled at him without patience for his humor.

While they waited, Flowey warned them all about Chara's fighting style, and about their deteriorating mental state. They were losing Frisk rather than breaking through to them, though at least twice he believed Frisk was in control after everyone had died. It was disheartening to be told that they had been killed before, especially hearing it was after heartfelt speeches of love towards the child. It was a struggle for Undyne not to be bitter and Sans pessimistic about what they could truly do to succeed. He almost didn't want to keep going. Papyrus however, despite his trembling was determined to fight hard. Eventually, Mettaton arrived and they briefly explained the plan. They weren't given much of a chance to fill him in on the exact situation as those red eyes impatiently stared at them to hurry them up. They hurried into the forest to begin the fight.

Properly warned, briefed, and working as a team the group had a fantastic run against Chara. They wore down the child's health with strategic attacks, carefully coordinated in mixes of styles to throw the child off. Whenever they got Chara to low enough health, Papyrus shouted out for them all to stop before they finished the child off. They crowded around to capture the human only for Chara to shove more and more piles of snow in their mouth and stand up rejuvenated. At least three times the child had magic snow hiding away in their pockets which set them back to the beginning. Without any means of avoiding Mettaton's mini magic Mettas(TM) and his powerful legs their healing barely meant a thing when a few attacks later they were almost on their knees again. The team was feeling confident, they were all holding together and sooner or later Chara would run out of items and have to give up. Then the child struck Undyne with a fatal hit, catching her off guard with knives striking up from the ground. Desperately, Chara took a chance and lunged forward for the first time since the battle began. They rushed at Mettaton with a knife in their hand. Winding back and then releasing a powerful swipe, Chara severed Mettaton's long shiny legs from his bulky body which sent him clattering down to the ground. He fell onto his back and before he could replace his legs with his wheel, Chara jumped onto his body and rammed their knife into his screen. They held the handle with both hands and threw their body into repeated blows, striking his screen again and again and again in a frantic attempt to break through it. The yellow colour flickered with tiny blocks of green and blue darting across the screen with each hit. The glass cracked and began to splinter across his body. Before Chara broke through, Mettaton grabbed the child and lifted them high up into the air, extending his robotic arms far away from himself. Chara continued swinging the knife wildly in the air and kicked their feet as they were removed from the robot.

Chara held a hand down to Mettaton and then launched it up to the air. The robot had no idea the blade was coming until it ripped right through him and tore through his circuits. A massive knife erupted from the ground and tore upwards, though Mettaton was already skewered. In their haste the tip of the blade nearly reached where Chara was suspended by Mettaton's hands. As Mettaton sparked and lightning snapped from his body, his arms twitched and jerked before opening and dropping Chara to the ground. The child fell in a heap but recovered quickly to their feet.

"....H-how about a deal, Darling?" Mettaton asked in a squeaking voice that then dropped into a deep baritone pitch, unable to maintain an even register. "You don't kill me....and I'll give you a signed picture of me....how's...that...sound?" His arms dropped and coiled on the ground. His screen flickered on and off, flashing a broken heart around where the knife was pointed up through him. Chara smiled blankly at the dying robot. "O-of course....y....you...already...have..more than...enough of those...don't you....Darling?" The knife retracted into the ground and Mettaton fell with a clatter of loose metal. His voice cried out in a pixelated mess and then his screen went dim.

"NGAAAHHHH!!" Undyne screamed, a spear of blue light piercing the darkness of the field from her right eye. With an overlaying voice of determination fueled power she squared her spiky shoulders and locked her dark eyes on Chara. The child turned to her, biting back a grimace that she had successfully turned into her determination form. They were about to attack when an unexpected body entered the field.

"Mettaton!" A nasally voice squeaked. Chara looked over at the entrance to the clearing where Alphys stood, clutching a long white metal cylinder with lines of plating over it and buttons along the sides in her shaking claws.

"Alphys!" Both Sans and Undyne cried out to her. Chara grinned and whipped their hand at her, sending blades soaring towards the defenceless dinosaur.

"NO WAY PUNK!" Undyne screeched as she appeared in front of her girlfriend and knocked the blades aside with a mighty swipe of her spear. "YOU AREN'T HURTING HER!"

"M-mettaton hang in there! I'm going to help!" She called out to the robot who remained on the ground, sparking.

"Al....ph...y..s...." Mettaton's voice grew quiet and deep, then glitched to an entirely different pitch mid word. He couldn't see her, but he was relieved that she was there. He was hopeful she could fix him. Being corporeal, he was very mortal and if his body passed on and his soul shattered, he would be gone for good. Chara lifted up their hand, summoning knives to shoot from Alphys' feet but the scientist was enveloped by blue and jerked to the side away from the attack. The cylinder nearly slipped from her claws by the sudden jerk which she fumbled with and clutched close to her chest.

"Where's my blasters Alphys? I need them!" Sans called and busied Chara by throwing them into the trees.

"I-I'm not done yet! I-I'm sorry! I saw you all chasing Fri- Ch..Chara from Waterfall so I packed up and headed out to meet you guys here! I was worried it was going to be a trap and I figured I could just do the final adjustments here!" She did her best to keep her sweaty palms wrapped around the large white metal tube. Once reacquainted with the ground, Chara tried to throw more blades at Alphys which were blocked by a tall bone shield and a floating magical spear.

"Hurry up with those adjustments Alphys! We'll cover you!" Undyne planted her feet and threw out her hands, summoning a spear into both of them.

"Yes, Alphys worry not! We will be your guards! Please be quick!" Papyrus stood at Undyne's side, holding his hand out ready to bring bones forth. Undyne subtly lifted her head, signalling Papyrus to attack which he obeyed. He sent out his bones at Chara, forcing the child to jump over quick hurdles of his magic and while doing this, Undyne attempted strategy and threw her spears at the moments she felt would absolutely hit. Chara was sometimes able to predict when she was going to throw her magic and weaved away but a lot of the attacks hit.Whenever they had a chance, Chara tried to stab Alphys, bringing up blades from the ground which Sans would jerk her away from. Alphys would almost drop the gun she was working on when Sans used his magic to move her.

"M-my hands are g-getting so sweaty..." She whimpered, wiping them off one at a time on her labcoat.

Papyrus laid out an unmoving zig zag of bones, making diagonal lines up and then down. While Chara moved through them Undyne threw clusters of spears they had to dive away from. Chara attempted to attack Alphys and Sans pulled her to safety. She dropped the gun and hurriedly picked it back up, yelling anxiously. During their next attack, Undyne and Papyrus had worn Chara down and when Papyrus noticed the human almost collapse he stopped their attack immediately.

"Human you cannot fight anymore! We will now capture you!" Papyrus announced, approaching the child only to have blades shoot up from under him to pierce his weary body.

"Papyrus!!" Undyne screamed as she watched the skeleton turn to dust. Blinded by rage she threw aside predicting the child's movements and tossed a hellish barrage of spears at them from all sides. Somehow, they blocked them all and then scoffed that it was too easy. Undyne roared and threw an impossibly fast set of spears which Chara deflected like it were a mundane routine.

"I-I'm done! I finished it!" Alphys announced and ran the long metal tube over to Sans. Chara lunged their hand out for Alphys and Undyne shot out to protect her, leaving herself wide open for knives to shoot up from under her. Alphys gasped raggedly and stopped, watching her girlfriend strung up on a bed of massive knives. "Undyne!!" She screamed, hugging the gun for comfort. Chara then threw a blade at Alphys which Undyne weakly lifted her hand to deflect. A transparent spear flickered in front of Alphys but Sans dragged the scientist out of the way. The knife cut right through Undyne's weakened magic with ease.

"Al...phys....get...outta...here..." Undyne begged, her hand shaking in the air as she reached out to the blurry yellow image of her girlfriend as her world slipped away.

Alphys watched as the strongest monster she knew, fell apart into dust. Losing Undyne tore a gaping cavern in Alphys' chest that threatened to shatter her entirely. She couldn't breath. Undyne was really gone. Just like that mocking smile in her camera, Chara grinned at the dinosaur with horrible empty eyes. Attempting to attack her again, Sans pulled Alphys aside to safety.

"Alphys give me the gun!!" Sans shouted in a startlingly powerful voice. At some point, he had retrieved his brother's long red scarf and had wound it repeatedly around his head, masking his usual jokester grin. He held out his hand to her and without that grin to dampen the intensity of his black eye sockets, Sans looked miserable.

"N-no..." Alphys said and stepped away from the small skeleton, though with his powers that did nothing for her.

"Alphys," Sans began an attempt to reason with her. Her claws rattled on the metal gun as she clutched it closely to her body and the dark field blurred into a wet mess of colours and white light. Alphys blinked away her tears and did her best not to curl up on the ground and surrender to the crippling hopelessness that began filling her body.

"I-I never believed in myself...I used to hate how I was but Frisk....a-and Undyne showed me that I could actually be something! You all...m-made me feel strong! Frisk and Undyne were so passionate about living a-and it made me want to try new things, to be energetic and c-cool. I wanted to give 100% into everything! I wanted to give my all!" Alphys' voice squeaked and cracked, morphing into a throaty croak the more choked up she became.

"Alphys c'mon!" Sans urged her desperately.

"I don't w-want to die....I want to live with Undyne and Frisk...a-and you and everyone....and be h-happy and s-strong." Their happy family was shattered and the pieces were lost beyond any hope of recovery. Any sort of joy was a million yards above them. "I want Asgore to make us tea...a-and Toriel to bake a pie...a-and bring me lunch when she sees all I eat are noodles!" Alphys slumped down onto her knees and hunched over the gun she clutched, slowly turning into a painful little ball. "I'm sorry Frisk! Th-there's no way....we can't beat this thing...without Undyne...it's pointless to try. We can't save you...." Alphys' pessimism brought Sans down. He felt a similar dread itching around his eye sockets, and sinking into his bones with a heavy lethargy. He didn't want to hear that it was hopeless when such a heavy toll was at stake.

"But...Undyne would want me to do the right thing....no matter what....even if what I want is to have her back...saving the world would always be m-more important." Alphys stomped one of her wide feet on the ground and hoisted herself back upright. She held up the gun, sliding her claws into an indentation in the side like a handle. "I'm sorry Frisk." She yanked her hand down, dislodging the handle which was revealed to be a switch. The metal tube separated into four sections which then folded open into a far larger mapping while a blinding blue light shone from within the cracks of the metal. She let the gun go and watched it grow, unfolding and expanding into some sort of head shape.

"I could kill you...a-and we could go back again and again...like I bet we already have, but that doesn't mean we'll ever win. I might get to see Undyne again...or watch her die repeatedly. I have to save everything, make everyone's sacrifices worth it!" The morphing gun was capable of hovering on its own accord. Tubes shot out and curled from the front to the back of a metallic muzzle and holes slid open, defining a massive skull-like shape. It was as tall as two of Alphys upwards and three times her height, long. "I-I'm sorry...I'm going to be selfish...but I don't want to die!" The gun finished its transformation, standing commandingly beside the tiny monster as a floating skeletal dragon's skull with long curling horns and tubes that wound all around it from a glowing orange and blue source in its back. It radiated an intense heat, even while not in use that made the battlefield swelter.

"I got the idea while I was fixing Sans' blasters. I don't know why but the way I made them more powerful...feels kind of ironic. H-heh you'd be proud Sans." Chara stared down the ferocious mouth of a metallic beast that closed in slowly as it aimed its nose towards the child. Any knife they sent towards it bounced uselessly off. "I had to put them all together to handle this much power...and harnessed the energy of the Core itself to make this cannon!!" She slapped her hand against the side of the gun, pressing down a button which began a sharp whirring within the weapon. Its mouth opened up and a ball of light swelled hungrily in its jaws.

"Alphys!" Sans exclaimed, a nauseating alarm rushing through his ribs. "This isn't exactly what I asked for when I wanted better blasters!" Sweat rained down from Sans' skull and his eyes widened in concern.

"I-I have to be the hero now. I-I have to save the world! I can't just let Undyne protect me anymore! I have to erase this evil from existence itself!!" Tears rushed from behind her glasses, she couldn't even see the child she was aiming at anymore, but she knew the blast would be so powerful no matter what it would hit them. The whirring grew, into a foreboding scream of energy as the collecting pressure of the Core's power threatened to burst from its containment.

"Erase....me?" Chara asked, their empty smile had fallen and flipped down to cut through their jaw. The child was frowning and their eye holes narrowed downwards until they were nearly black slits across their face.

 

 

 

"Flowey, if we get sent back," Sans squirmed when a shiver wormed its way through his bones and shuddered, "whoa...anyone else feel that?" Sans asked, watching his collective party all shift and adjust themselves uncomfortably.

"What? They reset....Chara reset..." Flowey looked into the makeshift arch that led to the clearing where Chara waited, feeling as though it were somehow growing larger and creeping towards them. It was as if the forest was trying to pull them in.

"Why?" Sans asked.

"Uh....um...okay they have knives that they attack with, and we have to wait here because Mettaton is going to show up-"

"Ohh Mettaton!" Papyrus squealed.

"And then later...while we're fighting them Alphys is going to show up with your gun, except she fused all your stupid crazy blasters together and made a massive cannon that she's going to use to wipe Chara, and probably Frisk too from this timeline!"

"Alphys! Just like her to make something crazy strong like that!" Undyne gripped her fist up by her chest and grinned proudly for what her girlfriend had accomplished for them.

"Except we want to save Frisk remember? So we need to beat Chara before she shows up otherwise she's going to try and be a hero and kill Frisk for good!"

They all waited for Mettaton as Flowey advised. The flower briefed them in further depth about Chara's attacks and what they should do to avoid them. Sans was silent the entire time, his eyes heavily boring into the ground. When the robot arrived, Flowey prematurely interrupted Papyrus' gushing and hastily explained the situation and that Mettaton should avoid kicking the life out of the child. They turned back to the looming blackness of the forest and with an attack plan set, they went in to fight.

They all hurriedly attacked the child, trying to race past an invisible timer and subdue them. Starting off they clumsily took a few hits but with a plan and time to figure out the motions they were able to successfully predict and dodge the oncoming blades. Chara was forced to gulp down all three of their mounds of snow and seemed to be feeling the pressure of their coordinated attacks. They were slowing down and dodging became frantic and desperate. They threw themself around like they were hooked to a string and miraculously stayed alive. Then they stopped all of a sudden, and their head lifted up to face the four monsters across from them. With hollow eyes and a cutting black smile the child laughed and eased back to their feet. They lifted their hand and the party prepared themselves for the attack. A swooshing chime rang out from somewhere unknown. Knives chugged into existence but not in front of any of them, or above them.

Chara yanked their hand down sharply. Behind them all, a high pitched, strangled cry pierced through the music which cut out abruptly. They all turned around and saw a yellow claw drop to the ground from the dark path and a long metal tube clatter and roll from said claw.

"A-ALPHYS!!" Undyne shrieked and began to move towards her girlfriend.

 

 

 

Chara held their hand in the air. The group tensely tried to locate where the knives were appearing so they could avoid the attack. Flowey looked back to see a ring of blades hovering between the trees over the pathway. Chara threw their hand down and Alphys screamed as she was brutally impaled. Her hand fell into the lighting of the black clearing and the unfinished cannon rolled towards the shocked monsters that saw her die.

"A-ALPHYS!!" Undyne shrieked.

 

 

 

The group was facing Chara, braced for another attack as the child held their hand to the sky. They dropped their arm and flicked out their palm, sending a single blade rushing towards the four of them which they all easily hopped away from. The blade kept soaring and dove into the darkness of the pathway. A high voice croaked and then Alphys with a knife lodged in her chest stumbled into the light. The gun clattered in her claws and then slipped to the ground and rolled away. Alphys stared at her friends with terrified, confused eyes. Those eyes rolled back into her head as she landed forward and jammed the knife further into her body.

"ALPHYS!!" Undyne shrieked.

"Wai-" Flowey attempted to call out.

 

 

 

The group tensely awaited Chara's attack. Flowey didn't get a chance to warn them. Chara threw their hand up and behind them, metal sliced up from the ground, blocking the pathway with pointed silver.

 

 

 

The monsters waited. Chara pulled their hand towards themself and as Alphys cried out she was thrown into the clearing by knives puncturing her back. She threw the cannon up into the air as she fell. Several rings of small knives circled like vultures and dove down onto her.

 

 

 

Chara threw a slow moving fan of knives at the monsters which they awkwardly shuffled away from only for them to jet forward once they passed the group.

Knives littered the dark forest pathway.

Alphys was killed.

 

 

Again.

 

 

And again.

 

 

Over.

 

 

And Over.

 

 

Her corpse smacked into the unforgiving ground.

 

 

Her screams strung together into a murderous song.

 

 

Flowey didn't have the time to speak, to try and warn Undyne or Alphys though he knew just how many times Chara slaughtered the scientist. Suddenly, they stopped and in a moment that would have been the team preparing for an attack they were all stunned by Chara's transformation. The child's face was melting, like a mask held over a hollow shell. Their eye holes and twisted grin drooped and slid downwards while retaining its mirth throughout. An intense evil radiated from Frisk's body which their very skin refused to host and began to separate from. Instead of a waltz the music just screeched raggedly.

 

E r a s e  m e ?

 

A deep, echoing voice rumbled from the air all around them.

"A-ahhh!" Alphys whined nervously as she was forced into the clearing by a crawling knife closing in at her back. She stepped out of its way once she was able to. With everyone inside, the pathway was blocked by a shooting field of silver.

"Alphys!" Undyne cried out to her girlfriend but wasn't given a chance to rush over to her. A ring of blades chugged around the small yellow monster, their blades pointed in at her belly.

 

I  n e v e r  g o t  t o  k i l l  y o u .

Y o u  a l w a y s  r a n  a w a y.

 I ' m  g l a d  y o u  f i n a l l y  g a v e  m e  t h e  s a t i s f a c t i o n .

 

Within one of their dripping eye sockets, two small, beady red pupils cut towards them from deep within the void inside the child.

 

I  w o n ' t  b e  e r a s e d .  I ' l l  e r a s e  y o u r  w o r l d  a g a i n  a n d  a g a i n ,

 

f o r e v e r.

 

I ' l l  s h o w  y o u  h o w  c r u e l  t h i s  w o r l d  r e a l l y  i s.

 

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Undyne shouted and without wasting time she charged forward and seized the child by the front of their shirt. Their locket's chain was wound in her fingers while the warm locket itself tapped her palm. She wound her fist back faster than anyone could blink and then with a loud crack she slammed her knuckles into the hell child's face. Their head flew back and their arm lifted up so Undyne tossed them back away from her. As Chara fell to the ground and Undyne yanked away from them, the heavy golden heart locket caught in her palm and snapped from Chara's neck. She stumbled back and inspected the jewelry she had not intended to take and then saw the sharp frown jaggedly carved into Chara's face.

 

G I V E  I T  B A C K

 

She grinned, told by the rhythmic pulsations that tapped into her hand what importance the little trinket held. Chara stiffened and skipped ahead of Undyne, throwing a knife over to where Alphys had been however Sans kept the monster afloat in the air while she hurriedly fiddled with her cannon. Absolutely livid, Chara's two red pupils spread apart and grew to fill the centers of the empty black holes in their face. The shadow of teeth gnashed behind their dripping skin. A wall of knives appeared behind the child with their blades all pointed at Undyne. The fish monster took off in a sprint, clutching their only chance tightly in her fist. The blades rushed after her and rapidly closed the gap despite Undyne's powerful strides. She realized as she ran, she wasn't going to make it to Alphys and chucked the locket to the side just before the knives rushed into her back and nailed her to wall of trees by the exit.

"Undyne!!" Alphys cried out, watching her girlfriend get skewered just below her feet. Papyrus scooped up the locket from the ground, panting frantically while he stood there at a loss for what to do. The situation certainly blared an alarm of danger but Undyne had just died and shouldn't he have talked to Chara? When the child set their malicious gaze on the skeleton, he backed away, rattling loudly. He was caught between the desire to run and the desire to persevere.

 

**G̭̰̣͈͚͇̥̻̟̮̀̅̿ͣͥ̅̓ͤ̿̆̍̉ͯ̄̐ͦ̓ ͓͕̦̹̪͕͈̣͎̯̭̠͔̝͇̲̳̻̊ͤ͆̍ͩ̓͂ͧ̆ͣ̐ͧ̊İ̩͍͓̩̦̺̝̪̫̩͎ͭ͛̋̄ͣ̆̌ͨ͊́ͮ͑ͯͮ ̝̭͈̪͙͓̱̘̥̟̮͕̞̮͓͍͓ͣ̋ͨ̋ͮ͑ͭ͌̓ͯ͌ͫ̔͛ͅV̙̖̖̩͇̘͕͙̫ͨ̀ͯ̈͛̿͗ͣ̃ͦͥ̃̉ͅ ̘̜̱͍̠͚͉̹͓̝̠̖͎̠̙̗͈̘̺̐̿̊ͤ̇̍̔ͤͩͦ́̇̂ͮ̚E̲̖̼͇̫͋ͤͪͮ̈́ͥ̉̋̓̏̑ͤ̇̚ ̹̰̟̝͇̫̳̹̮̼͚̮͉̦͖̃͗̇̄̉͂ͤ̆ͧ͛̾͐͆͗ͩ̌ ̬̖̭̳̥̩̟̲͇͉͕͇͓̽̏ͣ̈́ͅI̭̭̪͚̦̦̬̬̜͎͖̗̍̍̉ͯ̆͆ͥͦ͐̈̈́̓͒̿̏̿ͥ̚ ̙̼̣͕̲̫̩̜̠̫͚̪͉̑ͪ̃̉ͥ̍͒ͥ͑̀ͣͮ͌ͣͯ̃̆̾̚ͅT͙̮͎̗̬̼̼̠̫̲̎̀ͫͬ͛̔ ͓̦̝̲͖̥̱̩͖͉̤͙̙̰̮̼̪͐́͋̈́ͧ̈ͭ̄̽̊͋̄ͨ̆ ͎̬̖̦̠̳̬̳̫̬͚ͥ̃͗ͧ̑̓ͥ̓͋̀ͦ̓̽B͓̹͚̼̦͓̰̪͈̼͉̖̫̱̿̅ͭ̄́ͦ̑̾̏͛̈́ ͚̯̙̘̭͈̰͚͕̋̈́ͤ̄͌͒̇A̗̬͈̼͉͖̺̺͕̱̜̪̹̮̖̮̞ͤ͑̊́̉ͧ͌ͣͨ ̲̘͖͍͔͉̺̫̞̰̱̤̠͙̀ͪ̐ͨ̍͑̌́ͭͧ̽̍ͧ̊̊̽C̞̫̉ͣ̇̎͋ͅ ̻̞̘̙͎̹͙̼̞͓̺͎̗ͬ̐ͮͬͣ̅͆ͩ̍ͦ͌ͥ̋̀̚ͅK̩̜̭̩͉̞̮̖̘̳̣͇̥̱̯̝ͬ̇ͪ̍̌̌́͂̈̓͂ͪ͌̉ͫ͋̂͐̚  
**

 

Papyrus' hesitation left him trapped when a ring of massive blades circled around his body, large enough he couldn't jump over them.

"Papyrus!" Sans cried out to his brother, lowering Alphys quickly so he could pick his brother up instead. Before he could get his arm up to grab hold of Papyrus, Mettaton took off in a roar of heat and shot towards the skeleton. With his long arms he scooped Papyrus up from the ground and held him against his firm rectangular body. Papyrus swooned in Mettaton's strong, burly arms, sighing in relief as they roared up towards the colossal opening at the top of the treeline. Chara threw dozens of knives up into the air at them, that Mettaton swerved and looped around. They all came falling back down and rained on Sans and Alphys. Sans was entirely focused on avoiding the blades and keeping Alphys safe while she deployed the cannon. Mettaton and Papyrus reached such a height that Chara's knives arched and fell before they could even reach the two. They continued their attempt at escape towards the misty snowy sky widening towards them.

The roar of Mettaton's jet puttered out. It spat and coughed out bursts of fire then cut out entirely. "Oh dear. I used up most of my fuel to fly down here. Hold on tight darling!" Mettaton wound his arms around his and Papyrus' bodies while Papyrus shut his eyes tightly. They spun slowly and then dropped like a bullet. The wind whipped by them in a shrill whistle. With a booming crash and a thick cloud of dust they hit the ground. Mettaton looked down to see Papyrus below him, cracks crawling from the back of his skull and splitting his eye sockets. Despite the pain of his shattered bones, Papyrus grinned at Mettaton.

"I'm....glad...nothing happened...to you..." Papyrus whispered weakly right before his bones crumbled into powder. Mettaton's screen went dark and his hand hovered shakily over where Papyrus' face used to be.

"Mettaton!" Sans called out and threw his hand to the side to launch Chara into the trees far from the robot just as the child had been almost at his back. Mettaton snatched up the locket from the pile of dust below him and slid up onto his wheel.

"S-sans I-" Mettaton rolled over to the skeleton, his grief pixelating his voice as he tried to choke out an apology for the loss of his brother. Sans didn't acknoledge Mettaton, his blazing blue iris locked on Chara as he tossed them ruthlessly from either side of the trees and then repeatedly into the ground.

As Mettaton drew near, Flowey noticed the faint golden glow that leaked from the seams of the locket. Realization smacked into him hard and he realized why Chara was so desperate to regain the locket.

"Chara's soul is attached to that locket! Break it!!" Flowey exclaimed. Mettaton threw the necklace to Alphys who tossed it into the mouth of the fully formed cannon and smacked her fist into the button to begin charging it up. She scrubbed tears from her eyes and glared at Chara as they slammed down to the ground one last time. Sans was wheezing, unable to do more than slide the kid weakly across the ground if they didn't fight him. He wobbled and stumbled until he fell back onto his sacrum in an exhausted heap. Chara threw their knives wildly at any of the monsters they could see through the world spinning and churning. Mettaton rolled around to block the attacks as a shield while he summoned little Mini Mettas (TM) to take a hit where he couldn't be.

The canon's shrill song crescendoed to a screech. Several knives struck Mettaton's screen one after another, weakening and then shattering that one spot to lodge the last one right into his circuits. His arms spasmed and the lights on his screen snapped to neon green and purple discolourations. He fell hard with a rattle of loose parts. Chara swiped their arm towards Sans and Alphys but before they could send any knives they noticed the massive ball of rumbling light in the canon's mouth. They felt static dart across their skin just before Alphys leaned against the canon to tilt it upwards and it fired.

A wave of light shot out at the forest, engulfing the treetops. Distantly rocks cracked and loudly tumbled against more rock. The beam decimated the field, though it was purposely tilted up so it was just above Frisk's short head. The child screamed as the beam of light from the cannon hit their locket. As suddenly as the cannon fired, a massive shadow leapt out from Frisk's body and billowed around them, tethered to their back. Claw-like hands loomed and squirmed to grab the child but the longer the cannon fired, the farther the shadow drew from Frisk and the smaller the one connection they had became.

Chara refused to die, they would not die. They felt the molten power of the Core eating away at their very being and resisted it. They screamed louder and were forced up into the air, amongst the canon's beam that their darkness repelled. The farther the shadow got, the more upright Frisk's body was pulled. The beam continued, roaring deafeningly. Frisk's limbs twitched wildly, their body rose from the ground and hovered while their head, feet and hands spasmed recklessly. Alphys screamed along with Chara, pushing herself beyond her weak muscles' limits to keep the canon pointed away from Frisk. Both Frisk and the shadow faded, becoming translucent. Parts of Frisk's body seemed to snap right off of them for a moment before reattaching. Finally the last strand of darkness connecting the human and the shadow snapped. For a split second, Frisk's limbs scattered, their face somewhere high up in the air, their arms inside the trees, their legs inside the canon, their body sticking out of Mettaton and then, entirely whole they dropped to the ground like a rock. Alphys could hear the gun's screaming dying down, the energy depleted and the metal boiling hot against her scaly skin. She continued to yell, to invigorate herself to hang in there as she hoped desperately that in those last few seconds Chara's determination would dwindle out and they'd be destroyed.

"DIE ALREADY!" She screeched, her voice drowned out by the gun's and Chara's surrounding wails. Finally, the beam cut into smaller streaks of light and then disappeared. The cannon fell to the ground with a boom as steam billowed from its body. Alphys gasped in moist, humid air and fell back from the gun. She saw the shadow of a child, hovering in the air with tiny red eyes. While its size had greatly decreased, it was still there. Her stomach lifted up into her throat and choked her.

"It's hopeless.....Even after that...." Flowey whimpered in horror. He didn't spare the remaining monsters a glance and ducked down into the dirt, abandoning them. A laugh flooded the clearing that crackled, went silent, and screeched. A knife the size of a car appeared over Alphys and stabbed her into the ground, squishing her like a bug. Still hovering in the air, the child's shadow huffed and puffed while their body drooped and lurched.

"This is my world. I'll destroy it. I'll kill all of you. I'll never stop killing you and killing you and killing you and killing you," Chara continued, in a cracking mantra of death as their shadow flickered darker and lighter. As the shadow muttered, Frisk dug their numb fingers into the earth. They clawed at the ground with energy they didn't have and dragged their heavy body towards the cannon. Massive knives appeared over Sans and Mettaton, grotesquely oversized for the job of killing them.

"I am the angel of death fated to leave the underground empty.

 

T H E  W O R L D  E M P T Y

 

There is nothing you can do! There is no more hope! But keep trying, please! I'm addicted to hearing you scream!" Frisk slid through the dirt with a body that wailed in protest to movement. They panted loudly, squeezed their eyes shut, and focused on their one goal of getting to the cannon. With the pictures of their friends, vivid and happy in their mind, they were determined to finish off Chara.

Laughter roared incoherently, the blades rose up higher above the parylized skeleton and the immobile robot. They threw down their formless hand and as it whizzed through the air, white droplets fell on the backs of their fingers. They jerked their hand away from the feeling, as their silhouette sizzled. The knives halted and then fell to either side of their target, embedded in the dirt instead. Chara looked up and down from the top of the forest, descended a little white ghost with droopy sad eyes.

"I...wasn't sure what help I'd be against something like you....but I can't stand by anymore and let you kill my cousin." Napstablook said in a weak voice, already seemingly tempted to disappear as quickly as they arrived. Chara threw a knife at the little ghost, which phased right through their translucent shape. Mettaton's poofy gloved hand shakily ascended up towards the little ghost in the sky, his arm rattling loudly from the effort.

"Bloo...ky.....d...on't..." Mettaton urged the ghost as his voice fluctuated tones rapidly. A loud spark popped from inside his body. A pair of dark headphones rose up from around the ghost's body and sat on top of their head.

"You, more than anyone should know you can't physically hurt me.....You can't kill a ghost.......My entire family gave up their immortality to become corporeal and they left me. I felt lonely for a really long time, like I didn't matter because nobody wanted to be around me...."

"B...l..oo...ky.." Mettaton cooed in distorted sadness.

"I was fine just existing in the ruins, alone....forever but then a human came by. A nice human who liked me and listened to my music and made me feel like I wasn't alone anymore.......You ruined everything for them. I know I can't kill you either....but I'm going to do my best to help them get away." Chara's eyes suddenly snapped below where the ghost hovered in front of them, to where the cannon lay in a powerless heap. Frisk had the locket in their hand, and using the gun to help them get to their feet they were standing with it.

"NO!" Chara screamed. Frisk glanced back at Chara for a moment, though they couldn't see through the thick globs of tears rolling from their eyes. They turned around and ran out through the open exit from the forest. "NOOOOO!" Chara dove down to chase after Frisk but was stopped as they bumped into two massive ghost speakers that dropped down from the sky.

"I....did a remix of some of my songs....it's not really very good but...I don't care if you like it." A quiet ska tune rumbled from the speakers and Chara, unamused, flew up to pass them. Napstablook appeared in front of them, standing in their way. "Hang on, it takes a second..." They said, shutting their eyes as the music relayed into their headphones. The music built. Electronic sounds chirped and whirred with building speed and then after a split second of silence the bass dropped and the speakers resonated so powerfully the ground shook. Chara's shadow rippled violently by the sheer volume of the music. Standing safely atop the speakers, Napstablook swayed back and forth to their dubstep remix, watching Chara's form struggle to remain together.

Sans rattled on the ground, making no effort to move he was chattering around as the music vibrated the floor he sat on. He withstood the music for a moment and then disappeared.

 


	13. Chapter 13

The music carried across the underground, still outrageously loud even as Frisk ran from the forest towards Snowdin. Their legs felt like they would snap as Frisk forced them to swipe the ground beneath them and pull them forward. They lumbered on the cusp of shutting down but hung on even still. They went up a snowy path and approached a wide body of water where a crescent boat sat leisurely by the shore. A dark, caped figure stood inside of it. The figure sang a cheery tune, leaning on a long stick that was used to push their boat through the water. Having reached their destination, Frisk collapsed into the snow, slamming their forearms down to keep their face from smacking down to the ground.

"Tra la la~ I am the riverman, or am I the riverwoman? It doesn't really matter. Would you like to ride in my boat?" An unidentifiable, ghostly voice asked them and the shadowy hood turned to seemingly look at the child. Frisk crawled over to the rivermonster and with a wobbly hand, lifted the locket up to them.

"Would you like for me to transport this soul for you?" They asked, not yet moving to take the offered trinket. Frisk nodded and miserably sobbed against the agony they fought against. "For this particular ride there is a required payment of two gold. Where we're going doesn't really matter. Do you wish to pay for the ride?" They asked. Frisk dropped their upturned hand into the snow and let go of the locket momentarily to fish through their pockets. Gold overflowed from their hand and they guiltily recalled when they had trashed the Snowd Inn and stolen those gold coins from the shop. They were glad, at least, that the bunny monsters had left it since monster gold wasn't much currency on the surface. Frisk held up their handful of coins to the rivermonster and didn't see them reach and take two from the pile. When they heard the clink and gentle crunch of the locket being lifted from the snow they dropped their hand, and their entire body into the freezing snow and cried.

The rivermonster didn't leave right away.

"Tra la la~ There is a way for a happier ending~" They sang. Weakly, Frisk lifted their head out of the snow. "Whether you are content with this one, or perhaps want one more try it's possible...if you are willing to go all the way back" Frisk craned their neck and propped themself up on their elbows to look at the hooded monster. The snow had a pleasantly cooling effect on their weary muscles. "For two gold I will transport another soul, but ah...who would be left in control? How far back could they go? They would have to want to live a great deal." Frisk didn't understand the cryptic rivermonster's message but noticed the booming music from the forest had faded and that meant Chara would be coming. They forced themself to stand as fear gripped tight to their heart.

"Kid!" Sans' deep, comforting voice called out to them. Thin but poofy arms wound their way around the child as something round pressed into their shoulder. "We did it kid! We got you free from that thing!" Sans sounded like he was trying hard to be cheerful, but he was squeezing Frisk too tightly and his voice carried an emptiness to it. "Napstablook is holding it off but I bet it's on its way here right now so we need to go!" Sans paused, waiting for any kind of reaction from Frisk. Frisk was realizing, quickly what they had to do and fresh tears warmed their eyelashes. Sans' hand hurt when it grabbed Frisk's arm and spun the child around. He eased and sighed when he saw Frisk was crying. "I don't blame you, I promise. That thing is the real monster and if we're going to make everyone's sacrifices matter I need to get you out of here. C'mon." Frisk put a hand on the bones curled around their arm which were cold and brittle. They gently squeezed them and then lifted them off of their shirt. "What are you..." Sans was confused and as Frisk backed away from him, he reached out to them.

Frisk bent down and picked up two coins from the pile they had dropped. Then, they swept their foot along the ground, gathering and kicking the remaining coins off the edge and into the water.

"I don't....what are you doing kiddo?" Sans stepped forward. "We don't have time for this." Sans nervously glanced at the stoic hooded figure patiently waiting in the boat. Once all of the other coins were gone, Frisk lifted their leg up and stepped into the wooden boat with the rivermonster. They put the coins on top of the other two they already had and the boat began to turn away from land. "K-kid where are you going? I can get you out of here just fine, I've got a shortcut c'mon!" Sans' voice was jagged with frustration as any moment the danger of Chara finding them grew. The boat floated gently away from the skeleton, towards a previously nonexistent hole in the far wall. It was taking Frisk with it. Sans numbly stumbled as closely to the edge of the land as he could without falling into the water. He reached out to Frisk, his big eye sockets sad and lost. There was no land in sight where they were headed, just an endless horizon of dark water.

"Sans, I need you to do one last thing for me!" Frisk said, their voice squeaking and cracking oddly from their aching throat. They walked to the end of the boat, and knelt down on its floor, leaning against the curling tip to rest their tired body. Sans shook his head, stepping back and then forward, looking around for what to do. "No....no stop it kid. Get back over here! Don't abandon ship just yet!"

"We have to go back one more time!" Land drifted further away. The boat was beyond a jump's reach at that point. Sans' slippers tapped anxiously at the very lip of shore like he was tempted to just dive after them.

"No....no..." He breathed, watching Frisk drift away from him after everything they had done. His eye sockets filled with hot tears that fell down his face as he shuddered.

"You've gotta be strong Sans! Please!" The rivermonster was considerably slow during their departure so the two could have their talk.

"NO!" Sans screamed, balling his hands into fists as horrible feelings buzzed like angry bees in his bones. He disappeared from the shore and then appeared again right where he was. His eye sockets were wide and startled.

"Tra la la~ To get on this ride you have to pay~" The rivermonster sang, leaning on their stick they really didn't need to have since they didn't use it to propel the boat. Sans rifled through his pant pockets desperately, yanking out receipts and human money.

"Sans! You can do it! I believe in you buddy! You're so strong Sans! You go through every day knowing that it could all just go back and mean nothing. That everything you did could be worthless!" Sans jerked his head up in alarm, a shaking gasp sucking into his teeth.

"Frisk!"

"I'm so sorry that I ruined everything! That...I..." They wiped their eyes with the backs of their hands, rubbing so hard colours splashed behind their eyelids. "That I killed our family!" They sobbed at last.

"No...no that wasn't you Frisk! Don't blame yourself kiddo! Come back!" They had floated far enough away, Sans felt he had to shout for Frisk to hear his fearful pleas.

"You can do it though Sans! I need you to have hope! I need you to believe in yourself and in me when I tell you that we have one more chance!" Frisk's voice squeaked sharply when they tried to yell, but they forced themself regardless.

"WE DID IT FRISK! DON'T THROW THIS AWAY!" Sans screamed, his tears falling endlessly. He clutched onto his jacket over his chest and gasped shortly.

"Don't give up this time Sans! You can be happy!" Frisk's voice was harder to hear as they shrank into the distance. Sans dropped to his knees and reached out to Frisk. His eye socket lit with a faint blue iris and he tried to force out what was left of his energy to bring Frisk back. It didn't seem to have any effect. He couldn't even grab onto them.

"FIND FLOWEY! TELL HIM THAT WHEN WE'RE GONE HE HAS TO RESET! HE HAS TO MAKE SURE ALL OF THIS NEVER HAPPENS! PLEASE SANS JUST DO THIS FOR ME. TELL HIM TO GO BACK. TELL HIM TO SAVE US!"

"I....can't..." Sans said in a tiny voice as his hand dropped to his side and his body drooped heavily.

"GO SANS! YOU'RE THE STRONGEST OUT OF ALL OF THEM YOU JUST HAVE TO STAY DETERMINED! OUR WORLD IS DEPENDING ON YOU!" Frisk cheered the skeleton on, pouring their heart out to encourage him. He looked so dejected, and defeated that the human was worried the plan wasn't going to work.

Frisk distantly screamed for Sans not to give up. As they got farther and farther away they kept screaming it until Sans couldn't hear them anymore. Sans sniffled and was met with only cold silence.

"Frisk...." He sighed, wishing he had the strength to keep hoping, to keep trying. He wanted to trust them but just how many times would they really have to go back? He had no idea how many battles he had fought with Chara. Whatever Frisk was planning, Sans worried the kid didn't quite know what would stand in their way down that road.

Behind Sans, Chara's shadow loomed, staring angrily into the distance with wispy red eyes. The skeleton stood up, wiped his tears on his jacket and put his hands in their moulds in his pockets. With a breath to compose himself he turned around with one glowing blue eye.

"Hey, could you leave me alone buddy, I'm having the worst time right now."

 

 

 

Cocooned by darkness, Flowey took shelter amongst a solitary veil of light feeding a soft bed of buttercups much like himself. Every sniffle and sob echoed back from the hard stone walls as if to mock him for his cowardice. He was sure the others were all dead, that Chara had at last succeeded and the world would be doomed in no time. He apologized to Frisk over and over, the words melding together with his wet, throaty cries that they couldn't be recognized as english.

"I don't want to die! I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Flowey gasped wretchedly and his whole body lurched with a fierce cry.

"Hey....kid.." Sans' voice echoed from behind the flower. Flowey turned around to see the little skeleton lurching towards him from the dark.. "I've been....looking...all..over for you" Sans scuffled loudly on the stone floors, dragging his slippers as he shambled closer. He stepped into the light from the surface, with his big grey hood drawn up over his head and a massive knife's blade sticking out of his shirt. Something red dripped from between his teeth and spread a dark red stain around where the fabric of his shirt clutched the blade lodged in him. He dragged himself over to Flowey who stared at him, mortified.

"Sans...I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry I ran away! There was no hope fighting this anyways there's no way we can stop Chara! You were an idiot to think so." Flowey's face morphed from fear to an empty eyed malicious smile.

"Flowey." Flowey's cruel smile wiped from his face when he saw that Sans' face was drooping. "Frisk....told me..to tel..l..you some..thing." Sweat droplets trickled down the skeleton's jaw, pattering softly on the flowers below him. His eyes squinted and pressed down with great focus.

"What?" Flowey asked.

"You gotta...go...back...." Sans' face was melting. A big white glob of his skull fell and splattered on the flowers in front of Flowey.

"Sans!" Flowey was alarmed, and disturbed by the disproportionate way the skeleton's body was sinking and liquefying.

"They said...when....they..r..e...g.o..n...e...you can...re..se..t.."

"What do you mean gone? Sans what's happening to you?!" Flowey knew from when he had seen Undyne, that melting was something monsters' bodies did when they resisted death. Considering the huge blade Sans carried around in him it was obvious Sans was doing his best not to die.

"You have....to....g..o...back...and...make...sure....this...never...happens..."

"...."

"Pl...ea..s.e..t..ell m..e..you...know...how..t..o...d...o...t..h...a....t." More pieces of Sans' face fell. His eye sockets were almost closed as his forehead dripped down to cover them. His usual carefree smile warped into a twisted frown that cut empty gaps in his jaw on its descent to the ground.

"I...I...." Flowey's eyes were wide open, horrified and confused.

"T...e...l...l...m...e....y..o....u...ca..n...s...a....v...e....u...s." Sans reached out to Flowey, his hand a goopy blob that fell onto Flowey's face with a splat. Flowey cried out of fear.

"I-I...know what to do but....I don't....know..." Flowey had no idea how far back he could go, or if it would do any good for them. The idea, of resetting everything, terrified him. He'd have to redo everything again but that time...

"Y...o...u....g...o...t...t...a....b....e....d....e...t...e...r..m...i...n...e..d"

"I don't know if I can do it Sans! I can't-"

"...P....l...e...a...s...e....f....o....r....F...r....i....s.....k." Flowey's eyes darkened. He nodded gravely and stooped his head low, away from Sans and the sun's light.

"I'll try...." Flowey agreed and heard Sans sigh softly.

"P....a.....p" Flowey quickly looked up and saw Sans' drooping teeth lift up just slightly and then the skeleton's liquified body scattered into the flowers. Flowey was beyond scared and at that moment there was nobody left to help him. He was alone. During that realization, he noticed there had been a figure behind Sans that was steadily crawling towards him. They were disappearing, drifting off piece by piece into the open air but getting closer. Flowey didn't move, he could only tremble.

"Chara..." He meekly uttered their name. The shadow kept crawling and when they reached the border of light circling Flowey, the child stopped.

"Asriel...." Chara called for him in a near silent whisper, reaching out towards him. The world grew dark around the two for just a moment as Chara looked up. Flowey could see tears in their eyes and their pale, miserable face stretched fearfully. "Don't let them erase me Asriel.....We're friends right?" They faded away entirely, with nothing remaining in the place the little shadow had been. Flowey sat amongst the buttercups, in the place where Chara had fallen down and he had found them and taken them into their home. None of their pain, none of his pain would've happened if he hadn't found Chara in the ruins that day. Flowey shut his eyes, and willed the whole world back, to the very beginning of his story. To when everything began to go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm...I'm not very good at spacing out the sizes of my chapters >H>
> 
> It helps though that I post in bulk huh? :D


	14. Mt. Ebott. 20XX

On top of a mountain, fabled for anyone who dared to climb it to never return, a child fell down into its dark depths. They landed in a freezing pile of snow that was horribly out of place inside the barren stone cavern. Uninjured, the child rose up from the soft snow within a ring of sunlight that only cut a small circle from the surrounding shadows. Ahead should have been unknown and daunting to explore but the child stepped forward, unafraid. They shrugged their hefty backpack forward onto their shoulders and carried on into the ruins of the underground. The darkness almost felt like home. Although a decade had withered the memories in their mind, their body carried through each of the deterrent puzzles like the child had a guide to teach them. A silent tutor that held their hand across the treacherous maze of spikes and pitfalls. The ruins were entirely abandoned, without a soul to be seen. Only the scuffle of their footsteps greeted them back to where they had once been.

The child approached a gnarled black tree, that withered away in the darkness, all by itself but remained standing strong if not lifeless. It was something to admire, amongst the tense nothingness, that even alone something strove to stand no matter what. Past the tree was a tall wall of purple jagged rock, and a small opening in the ground just before said rock. There were stone steps, trailing down deep below the floor. As the child descended the stairs, the walls brightened to a vibrant, smooth violet colour. They went down to a long purple hallway that zig zagged towards a massive purple door. The child approached the door, which stretched up to four times their own height. There was a black circle inscribed on the door, with outstretched black wings curling from its sides. Below the circle, were three triangles arranged in an upside down triangle formation. The meaning of that rune came back to the child and they took a moment to touch the symbol which held a powerful prophecy in its simplicity. The door was cold and a chill slipped in from beneath it to nip at the child's ankles.

The child unpacked their bag and took a red scarf from inside of it and wrapped it around their face. The wool softly tickled their nose and they felt their own warmth radiate around their cheeks. As they zipped their bag closed, they noticed a skeleton beside the door. It was brittle and tiny, and too detatched to possibly hold life. Its leg bones were bent up towards its ribcage and one of its arms had fallen to rest alongside their tibia. The other arm lifted up past their skull and reached for the door. Its bony fingers were propped up against the door, lining up with worn, shaking lines cut into the rock. The skeleton's skull was cracked painfully. The rest of the door was nearly pristine but the bottom corner, by the skeleton was so beaten up it was surely much thinner than the rest of the door.

Despite everything, Frisk still felt sorry for the little skeleton and the child it used to be. They mumbled an apology to the bones while they stood up and slung their backpack back on. As they pushed with all of their might into the door and it groaned loudly to resist being forced open the child felt a rush of excitement course through them. They felt incredibly determined to be home.

As their shoes crunched in the glittering snow, Frisk regretted not bringing gloves to warm their little hands. They had been in such a rush to pack everything that they worried perhaps they had forgotten one of the important things they had wanted to bring. There was no going back, but they knew confidently at least they had the one thing they truly needed to make things right. The forest at their side was haunting and they hurried away from it like a nightmare. As they stepped over a large, sturdy branch they eagerly waited to hear it snap behind them, and it did. When they turned around, there was nobody behind them and it took all of their composure to refrain from spoiling the surprise. They approached a bridge, which with much confusion they noticed it did not have any oversized bars built in front of it. As they stood, pondering the missing archway, footsteps crunched through the snow behind them. Frisk stood, patiently for the approaching feet to stop just behind them.

"H e y  t h e r e ,  k i d . W e ' v e  b e e n  w a i t i n g  f o r  y o u ." Hearing the familiar, deep and lax tone built a ball of butterflies at the base of Frisk's neck. They wanted to cry. "D o n ' t  y o u  k n o w  h o w  t o  g r e e t  a  n e w  p a l ? T u r n  a r o u n d  a n d  s h a k e  m y  h a n d ." Frisk was so overcome with emotion, they almost forgot what they had wanted to do but thankfully recalled at the last second. They quickly threw their backpack off into the snow and searched around inside of it while the short figure behind them waited silently. Their hand grabbed onto the soft object they had been searching for and once they closed the fingers of their left hand around it they stood up and turned to face their 'mysterious' greeter to the underground. A bony hand was held in the air towards them and Frisk couldn't clap their right hand against it fast enough. The resounding wet ripple of flatulance vibrating in their palm broke their stony expression. Frisk laughed like it was the best joke they had ever heard and Sans quickly joined them with a chuckle.

"The old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. Gets them every time." He said with a grin and retrieved his hand from Frisk's shaking one. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. I was sent by the royal family to recieve you from the ruins." He stuffed his hands into his big, blue, puffy jacket and winked at Frisk playfully. "I'm actually a sentry so I don't know why I'm playing escort right now but hey, I've got a lot of jobs and apparently you're the last human I'm supposed to watch out for...so I guess I'm fired?" He shrugged casually, still smiling cheekbone to cheekbone. "Good, I was downright bone tired of that job." He gave a comical shrug and a wink which beamed when Frisk laughed. "Wow you're a great audience kiddo. Heh I bet my brother would really like you, too." Frisk's breathing hitched excitedly. Their heart continued its fluttering pound in their chest. Before they let Sans lead them off, Frisk held out their left hand to Sans with their palm facing the treeline.

"Hm? Oh, you want a proper handshake huh? Guess I can do that. Welcome to the underground." He swept his hand in to grip Frisk's palm and a long, powerful fart errupted from their connected hands. The skeleton jumped and his smiled turned tense at the unexpected noise. Behind their scarf, Frisk's face nearly split with how hard they were grinning and unlike Sans their pokerface was a quiet trembling fit of giggles. Once it registered in Sans' skull that he had just been pranked back, he chuckled. "Wow a fellow prankster. You sure got me good buddy, congrats. Nobody round here can say they got me by surprise before." Sans returned his hand to his pocket and walked towards the wooden bridge that connected a small but infinitely deep hole in the ground with the next plot of land. "Save some of that comedy gold for my bro, he's really going to love you." Frisk followed Sans across the bridge and through the snow. They had almost walked right by a reliable appliance until Frisk stopped dead in their tracks with a stunning memory.

"What's wrong?" Sans asked, only continuing a few steps before he stopped and turned back to where Frisk had halted. "My brother is just up ahead c'mon. He loves humans don't worry. He's a great guy and probably a way better escort than me." He turned away to continue walking. "The only thing I can think of that would be better would be a snail," He said as he walked, his smile stretching prematurely and his eyes squinting with mirth, "I'd love to see that escort-go." He chuckled softly to himself, but when he wasn't met with laughter he stopped again and turned around. "What didn't like that one?" He asked to an empty field of snow. He was initially confused, but tiny footprints trailed off to where an oddly shaped lamp stood which conveniently matched the child's figure. From the snickering he heard behind it, the kid must have hidden behind the lamp.

"Sans! I heard that awful joke from down there! Why are you just standing here telling yourself terrible puns when there is a human coming today?" A tall, armored skeleton scolded the shorter skeleton as he charged over briskly from across the way. Sans caught on quickly that the kid had something planned and so he played along.

"I was just practicing my lines bro. I get the feeling the kid probably really likes puns." He said with a shrug. Papyrus stomped his foot into the snow.

"Do not greet the human with a joke Sans! We do not want them to think we're silly billys otherwise they'll never take us seriously! The others all think I'm funny instead of cool!" Papyrus crossed his arms and did his best to pout without lips.

"Being funny is cool though Papyrus! So by that regard, you're the coolest right?" Papyrus was shocked into silence and then his cheekbones flared pink and he slapped his big gloved hands over his face.

"Oh you're right Sans! I bring all of the children so much laughter, they must all love me!" He squirmed around giddily and shook his skull in his hands. "Nyeh heh heh heh!"

"Maybe you should greet this new human with a joke. Anything I came up with would probably just be juvinile and tired but I'm sure you could think of something really great."

"You're right again Sans! I should be the one to greet the human!" Papyrus' ego flared and he posed heroically as the wind blew his tiny cape up from his back.

"Why don't you practice what you're going to say on that conveniently shaped lamp over there? It practically looks like a human already." Sans' eye sockets turned up gleefully.

"You are being so helpful today Sans! I hope this is a new habit of yours because it is a lot better than you being a lazybones." Papyrus said as he approached the little lamp Frisk was standing behind.

"Ooh good one." Sans praised Papyrus with a chuckle.

"Shh Sans! I need to focus all of my mind power on the best possible joke! I must show the human just how lovable and funny and nonthreatening we monsters are so that they love us immediately. Especially me!" Papyrus stared intensely at the lamp, humming loudly as he thought of what to say. "Human! Welcome to the Underground, specifically Snowdin where I, the Great Papyrus live with my lazy brother Sans. It is very...ice to meet you! Nyeh heh heh heh!" Papyrus laughed loudly at his own joke, proud of himself. Frisk bet, somewhere in the distance, a Snowdrake was angry that their joke was stolen by a skeleton. Still, hearing that cheerful goofy laugh Frisk couldn't withhold a loud snicker. "Sans! This lamp just laughed at my joke! I must be so hilarious that even inanimate objects cannot resist my wit!"

"Or maybe that laugh came from something behind the lamp." Sans suggested.

"Behind...?" Papyrus walked around to the side of the lamp, where he was finally able to see Frisk standing behind its cover. He jumped three feet into the air and yelped in surprise. "A HUMAN!" He cried out. When he landed back on the ground he stared at Frisk as they walked up to him. "Are you the human we've been waiting for?" He asked, politely crouching down to the child's height. Frisk nodded quickly and fiddled with something behind their back which they held below their backpack. "Welcome Human! I am the Great Papyrus! It is-"

"Ice to meet you too Papyrus!" Frisk finished for the skeleton, too wired to be patient anymore. They held out a clear plastic container with a red lid to Papyrus. The container had something orange smeared inside of it. Papyrus was surprised to be offered a present and stared at it blankly at first.

"Is this...for me?" He asked to which Frisk nodded. Papyrus' eye sockets seemed to sparkle and he gasped in delight. "Oh Human you are so thoughtful! Wowie! It's Christmas early for The Great Papyrus this year! Nyeh heh heh!" He took the container from Frisk and stood to his towering full height. Sans came up beside him, curious about what his brother had received. Papyrus popped off the lid and when he saw what was inside he took a long sharp breath. "HUMAN!" His eye sockets welled up with tears. "How did you know I loved spaghetti? Did you make this yourself?" He asked while his big toothy smile stretched as far as it could go up his face. Frisk nodded, smiling right back at him from under their red scarf. "And I just noticed! Your scarf! Goodness, we match too! What a crazy coincidence since there's no possible way you could've planned this beforehand and known I liked spaghetti and also wore a red scarf!" Papyrus chimed, as he giddily observed his lovingly made spaghetti gift. "I will make you some of my own spaghetti in return once we've gotten you to the castle! I think we are going to be great friends Human!" Papyrus carefully put the lid back on the pasta and stuffed it into his wide chestplate where somehow it stayed when he took his hand out. "Follow me!" He ordered and marched onward towards the town.

Frisk's face ached from how much they had been smiling and how horribly unused those muscles had been prior to that day. They couldn't help it though nor did they want to and they continued to grin as they pleased. They were invigorated by the realization that they would be meeting the rest of their friends.

"Hey kid." Sans called, stopping Frisk from running off after his brother. The air suddenly felt a lot colder, even under their scarf. "How'd you know my brother likes spaghetti? Seems like an oddly specific gift to give somebody you just met don't'cha think?" Frisk looked at Sans, who's smile seemed almost tired, and pulled down their scarf so he could see their mouth. Frisk grinned at the skeleton, winked and then ran off to follow Papyrus. Frisk made a momentary detour to visit a snowman who they retrieved a piece of snow off of and then they went back to following their guide. Once they met up with Papyrus at a really long wooden bridge, Sans was right there beside him, with his eyes trained on Frisk exclusively.

"I really wish I had been allowed to make some puzzles for you, Human! His majesty had insisted, however that I get you to the castle as quickly as possible once you had arrived! I have a feeling you would have enjoyed some great puzzles right?" Papyrus' mouth hung open in anticipation. When Frisk nodded he laughed. "I knew it! You are one of the better humans to fall down here! Of course all of the humans are nice but some of you value the important things in life over the others..."

"One of the humans we have down here hates puzzles and loves shooting my brother with a dart gun." Sans explained.

"The little plungers get stuck to my head and it is very annoying!!" Papyrus huffed while he frowned ahead of them. "Anyways, I will just bring you to my puzzle field after you meet the royal family! Once you're greeted into the underground we'll have lots of time to become great friends!" They crossed the bridge together, and it was enough to dampen Frisk's mood that nothing shot out around them to hinder their progress. There was no fire, no swinging spike weapons, no spinning dog on a rope. Of course things were different but they had hoped to reminisce in some of Papyrus' charmingly broken traps. It was enough though, just to be with them again.

"Y'know out of all of the kids that fell down here, you were the most anticipated by the prince." Sans mentioned casually.

"Yes! The prince you see, has this amazing ability to tell when things are going to happen! He warned us before each of the humans fell down so we could go bring them to the castle safely and he was right every time!! He was especially excited when he mentioned you were coming!" Papyrus said.

"Yep, though he's usually spot on with his predictions you showed up a lot later then he said you would. We were waiting out there for you for a long time kiddo." As they stepped off of the bridge, Frisk looked back at Sans with guilty alarm, and then shared their concern with Papyrus. They had not meant to keep the skeletons waiting out in the cold. Frisk quickly unwrapped their scarf from their neck and wound it around Sans' skull. "Uh..." Sans was confused and tried to tell Frisk that he had no need for a scarf since he couldn't feel cold but once it was coiled around his face the kid took off and ran into Snowdin. Sans adjusted the scarf so he could see and fondly felt Frisk's warmth lingering in the fabric. It was very soft, albeit unnecessary. Papyrus snickered at him before running after the human to make sure they didn't get hurt.

Frisk darted around Snowdin, peeking into the inn and the shop and for some reason they opened the box left outside the joined buildings just to laugh at it and shut it again. They said hello to all the monsters loitering contently outside, and recieved a mixture of greetings in return. Just outside of Grillby's, Frisk stopped at the large Christmas tree decorated with shiny lights and surrounded by brightly wrapped presents underneath its pines. They greeted the large white bear that was sorting the presents and then they froze when they saw another human. There they were, bent over to put a gift of their own with the pile. They had a ribbon tied in their hair that was a dulled red colour from years of love and use. A human that Frisk had never seen before, but had benifited from their loss in another time. Frisk remembered wearing that ribbon and thought to themself that it looked better on that human. They felt incredibly happy to see that human alive. When the child noticed Frisk, their eyes grew wide for a moment and then they smiled at them politely.

"Hi! You fell down here too huh?" They went over to shake Frisk's hand and while they were doing that, another child charged towards them with a spiky yellow monster on their back, roaring with determination. Monster kid laughed recklessly as they were carried at top sprinting speed through the air. The child carrying them laughed as well. They both seemed so happy and Frisk was stunned. They had no idea that the child with the hair bow had already shaken their hand and that they had just kept their hand in the air while they were distracted. Frisk watched as the child carrying Monster Kid tripped and the two slammed into the snow.

"Ahhh are you two alright?!" Papyrus asked as he hurried over to help the two children up.

"Of course I'm alright! It takes more than that to hurt me! I'm gunna be a fierce warrior just like Undyne one day so nothing can get me down!" The human child tugged a bandana they had tied around their neck up with thickly gloved hands so that it covered their mouth from the cold. The bandana had sculpted abs drawn onto it.

"I'm fine too! I'm gunna be like Undyne too! I also fall like that all the time so no worries!" Monster kid said, chiming in after the human had.

"Maybe you'd rather be like the Great Papyrus and exersize more safety?" Papyrus asked, smiling at the children.

"Safety is for losers! I wanna be tough!" The child said and punched a fist into the air. "NGAAHHH!"

"Yeah! What they said!" Monster kid agreed but couldn't copy the human's action of punching the sky. Papyrus seemed hurt and looked down dejectedly from the kids.

"Oh...ok." He walked over to Sans who gave him a comforting pat on the arm and assured him he was the coolest guy around. Frisk walked over to Monster Kid and the human, with their backpack hanging on one of their arms. They held out their hand to the human with a big smile on their face.

"My name is Frisk. I'm new here." They said and the bandana child took their hand with a strong grip.

"Nice to meet you!" They said loudly and gave Frisk a huge, strained smile. Frisk then reached into their bag and took out a little hat with a tiny umbrella affixed to the top of it. They held the hat out to Monster Kid with an apologetic smile. The little monster was confused to be offered a present but as they realized what it was for they became incredibly excited.

"Wow! Thank you! How did you know I can't hold umbrellas?" They asked, ducking their head and scooping the hat out of Frisk's hand so they could wear it. It was a bit askew so Frisk adjusted it for them.

"What a nice gift Human!" Papyrus cooed as he returned to Frisk's side.

"Yeah....real thoughtful buddy...." Sans went back to staring at Frisk, but with nothing nefarious to hide, Frisk only smiled at the skeleton and winked.

"I'm on my way to the castle, do you guys want to come with me?" Frisk asked the two humans, also extending the invitation to Monster Kid if they wanted to come along. The humans excitedly agreed and with three more children, Papyrus continued leading them to the castle. As they walked past Grillby's, Frisk stared at its front door. It was such a warm, inviting place and Frisk was incredibly tempted to pop inside just to see all of their old friends again, but they were increasingly aware of Sans' suspicious gaze and didn't want him too wary before they did what they had come to do. With a regretful sigh, they left the snowy world of the underground. The air's chill turned thick and wet. It was murky like a swamp and as they grew distant from Snowdin, Waterfall warmed up to them. Frisk felt peaceful and relaxed, watching the black water shimmer and reflect the glowing blue light of luminescent flowers and various other glowing things. Frisk did their best not to cry, though thinking of Waterfall, and the time spent lovingly painting their old room in its likeness choked them up. When the group came upon an area full of echo flowers, they heard humming whispers of big words. 'Revolution' 'Importance' 'Freedom'. They eventually met up with yet another human child, crouched down beside an echo flower with a book in their hand. They were quietly teaching words to the flower but upon hearing the group's approach their head snapped up and their oversized, murky glasses nearly flew off of their face.

"O-oh! Hi Papyrus! Sans!" The child stumbled to their feet and held their big book tightly to their chest while meekly keeping their eyes down at the ground. They peeked up from under their eyebrows at Frisk. "Is this...the last human you guys said you were waiting for?" They asked, poking their frames back up onto their nose.

"Yes! We are currently on our way to the castle to introduce them to the royal family!" Papyrus explained cheerily.

"O-oh...that's interesting..." The child fidgited and kept glancing from the ground to Frisk as if they couldn't hold their gaze for too long. Frisk approached them and gave them a patient smile. They offered the child their hand, to take if they chose to or not. The child stared at the offered hand nervously and became more anxious the longer it was kept up. Eventually, Frisk just lowered their hand but continued to smile.

"I'm Frisk! Would you like to come to the castle with us?" They asked. The child with the smudged glasses shifted uncomfortably and hummed while they pondered the offer.

"O-okay...." They said at last, with a tiny little nod. Frisk gave them one more smile and then began leading the group to the castle themself. The children all grouped together and Papyrus unknowingly lagged behind as he was talking to the other humans. Sans walked ahead of Papyrus for once, his tiny white pupils unmoving from the back of Frisk's head.

Frisk led them to an open area with a line of water and three pathways above it as well as one to either side. Before that moment, Frisk had led the group directly ahead, with only a few detours on the wrong path before they found the right one. Once they were there, they seemed hyped up with energy again.

"Oh man this is where Undyne's house is! I wonder if she's home!" The human with the abs bandana said happily, pulling their bandana down to their neck. Monster kid hurried to their side quickly.

"Since there isn't really a lot of bad guys for Undyne to fight I bet she is. Yeah I totally bet she's there! Can we go and see her? Please?" Monster kid begged, and was swiftly accompanied by the human with the bandana.

"Kids! We have a schedu-" Papyrus was about to deny the children their request but Frisk was already running towards her house.

"WOO HOO!" The bandana human hollered and took that as an okay to follow them. Monster kid went with them which left Sans and Papyrus with the glasses human and the human with the ribbon. Clutching the book to their chest still, the human with the glasses didn't follow the others, worried about causing trouble for Papyrus and Sans and also rather uncaring about the popular fish warrior. The human with the ribbon's eyes kept flickering from Sans to Papyrus, wondering if it would be alright for them to follow the others, but by the exasperated look on the taller skeleton's face, they decided against it.

Frisk approached the round dome, shaped like an angry fish's face that Undyne resided in. By the side of her house was a worn down training dummy, that Frisk gave a friendly wave as they passed it by. Sharp, irritated eyebrows appeared above the dummy's large beady eyes and the mannequin began to float.

"Who are you wavin' at huh?! Tryin' to be friendly with me you little twerp!?" The dummy separated into three parts and danced around its training mat in a furious fit.

"Wow Undyne's training dummy talks!" Monster Kid gasped, trotting over to the flailing dummy.

"I'm not a training dummy you little jerk! I'm a ghost INSIDE of a training dummy!! Stupid! Stupid! STUPID!" The Mad Dummy's pieces flew around frantically, darting away and then back to their original formation only to fly off again in a rage.

"Hey! Don't let that dummy talk to you like that!" A strong voice, nearly cracking with its intensity called out to them. A chill ran up Frisk's arms hearing Undyne's voice again.

"Undyne!" The bandana human cried out, for Frisk who was too choked up to speak.

"Undyne!" Monster Kid also called to the muscular warrior, running away from the dummy who became even more enraged at being ignored.

"Hey Hey Hey!! I'm over here you brats!!" Its segmented parts were nearly shooting up into the sky only to be snapped back together.

"How come you're all crowding around my house? You guys should be back home with Papyrus and Sans!" Frisk watched Undyne, dressed in her full shiny armor, put her hands on her hips. Her voice echoed inside of her intimidatingly styled helmet. Frisk's jaw quivered, and threatened to release an emotional shudder before their long lost friend. They fidgeted with their backpack in their hands.

"There's a new human in the underground! Their name is Frisk!" Monster Kid explained and ran over to Frisk's side so enthusiastically they bumped into the child and nearly knocked them over.

"Huh..." Undyne turned her helmet towards Frisk, presumably to look at them and then she took it off and Frisk had to swallow hard to ward off the tightness in their throat when they saw her face. They felt an intense desire to apologize for everything but that would only bring questions and misunderstanding. It was better that they didn't say anything. "Glad you finally made it punk! You kept us waiting a looong time!! The prince is never wrong so I bet something really important must have come up." Undyne bared her yellowed, massive fangs joyfully to Frisk and the child couldn't resist mimicking her signature smile.

"We're going to the castle with them! Do you want to come too?" The bandana human asked, clapping a hand a little too strongly on Frisk's back.

"You guys should have your own escort though...Where's Papyrus? He was waiting by that door day and night. Don't tell me you missed him!" Undyne looked around over the children's heads and caught Papyrus waving apologetically in the distance. She didn't notice Frisk approaching her until they knocked on her leg. She looked down and saw a whistle tied to a string in the human's hands. "What's this?" She asked and picked up the tiny plastic device carefully. She inspected it and shook something inside of it that clicked around. Finally, she tried putting it into her mouth and when she blew into it lightly a sharp note rang out. Her eyes lit up. She blew into it harder and a powerful whistle erupted from the tiny toy. Undyne laughed in delight. "This thing is awesome!! It's so loud! YEAH! Now I can yell at people without even straining my voice!" She looked down at Frisk's shiny eyes and gave the child a pat on the head. "Thanks kid! This is a sweet gift!" Then her eyes locked onto Papyrus and Sans, and narrowed mischievously. "HEY YOU TWO QUIT SLACKING OFF AND DO YOUR JOBS!" She shouted and bolted towards the skeletons, blowing her whistle furiously. Papyrus screamed in alarm and Monster kid and the human with the bandana ran after Undyne.

".....You guys....sure look like you're having fun...." Someone said in a quiet, dreary voice. Frisk looked around and saw a little see-through ghost standing off to the side of the dark blue rock wall surrounding Undyne's house. Frisk sniffled while a tear escaped their diligent hold. "Oh....you're crying too huh? Yeah I can relate to that......just feeling bad....and alone....Your friends ran off....I can relate to that too...." Frisk approached Napstablook and held out their arms to the ghost. Napstablook was confused, but drifted closer to the child curiously. Although Frisk couldn't actually touch the incorporeal ghost, they held their arms in the air around the little spirit's billowing form. "Oh.......uh.....are you hugging me?" Napstablook asked, phasing through Frisk's arms a little.

"You're fantastic Napstablook! You're the best ghost. The best." Frisk whispered to the sad spirit.

"Oh............" Napstablook said quietly, and then disappeared from Frisk's arms.

"Hey! Do you...want to come hang out with us?" Frisk asked quickly, whirling around and looking for where the ghost had gone. There was nobody in the area besides an irritated dummy and Frisk didn't want to leave without Napstablook.

"You......wouldn't mind having me tag along?" Napstablook asked, though Frisk still couldn't see them anywhere.

"I'd love to have you come with us! I heard you make great music! Would you mind showing me some on the way to the castle?" Frisk turned around and the solemn little ghost appeared before them, shiny sizzling tears rolling down from their droopy eyes.

"I guess......I can come....I was going to go lay in my house and feel like garbage...but....I don't really want to do that anymore....." Napstablook offered Frisk a morsel of a smile and Frisk returned it three times as big. Frisk and Napstablook left Undyne's house behind and rejoined the expanding group of friends on their trip to the castle.

"Hey hey hey! Where are you guys going?! Wait for me!!" The Mad Dummy hollered and flew off to join the party.

 

 

 

"Uggghhh I haaaate Hotland!" Undyne groaned, followed by her blowing loudly into her whistle to vent her frustration. "Hehheh but this cool whistle helps."

"Undyne please stop blowing into that thing! It hurts my ears!" Papyrus whined, standing at the opposite end of the group from Undyne.

"What ears?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the skeleton.

"I....." Papyrus opened his mouth to answer, but then shut his teeth and faced ahead with a stunned look of realization. "I don't have any ears."

"Are you....okay??" Undyne asked, promptly cut off by the bandana child shouting.

"YEAH I HATE HOTLAND! It's too hot here! I'm sweating!" They cried, removing their winter coat to tie around their waist.

"Yeah me too dude!!" Monster Kid yelled, trying to will themself to sweat like their friend, despite the heat sitting rather nicely in their scales.

"The sweltering humidity is going to ruin my book!" The child with the oversized glasses complained, worriedly inspecting their tome's pages. The child with the ribbon kept up with Sans, who for most of the trip was silently staring at Frisk as they led the way. The child had been keeping their eyes on Sans and silently worried about him.

"Aren't you...hot in that scarf?" They asked him, feeling perspiration chilling the back of their neck and along their pulled back hairline. After a moment of silence from the skeleton, the child wondered if they had been ignored until Sans finally pried his eye sockets from Frisk's back.

"Nah, I'm a skeleton remember? We don't have skin and we don't get cold." Sans replied in a light chuckling tone.

"Oh...right...um...it's a very nice scarf..." They mentioned, scrounging for topics to talk about.

"It is." Sans said, touching the soft cotton lightly with his bone fingers as he turned his head back to the front of their crowd.

"You um....match your brother a little bit now!" They continued their attempt.

"......Yeah...." Sans was oddly quiet which worried the ribbon child. Before they could continue to pry, Sans pointed to Frisk. "Why don't you go up there with the kid? They've probably been guessing their way through the underground 'til now. I doubt Napstablook remembers the way either." Sans said, discreetly telling the child to get away from him which they picked up on. They nodded and went ahead to stand beside Frisk.

"So....Frisk...I know its kind of rough now that you're trapped here with us underground..." The ribbon child paused, checking Frisk's blank expression to try and gauge how they felt about the topic though they were given nothing to work with, "I was pretty upset too but...it's actually really nice down here! All of the monsters are funny, and some of them make great friends! There's a whole family of dogs who just really like being pet!" They giggled, fondly remembering the excitable dogs and just how many pets they had given them and how many more they would surely receive. Frisk had stopped talking to Napstablook and Mad Dummy once they had been approached by the other human and as the dog family was brought up they smiled a little. They could remember petting lesser dog into an entirely new dimension which was thrilling to say the least. They were a good dog.

"If you could...would you want to go to the surface though?" Frisk asked.

"Huh?" The ribbon child was caught by the question momentarily. "Yeah....of course. I have a family up there...It was stupid of me to climb the mountain but I'm glad I met all of these monsters. The thing is though...now that I've lived with them for so long...I don't know if I could leave the underground without them." Frisk's eyes turned melancholy but they nodded in agreement.

"Me neither. They deserve to finally see the surface...and be happy." Frisk gripped the straps of their bag tightly and tugged them tighter around their shoulders. They charged forward purposely, guiding their friends through Hotland despite their complaints.

"That's perfect darlings! Ah just like that! Just kick higher! One two three! One two three!" Frisk ran ahead, hearing Mettaton's smooth but robotically chirping voice. The orange, heat weathered ground turned to smooth blue tile and an impressive collection of modern kitchen appliances lined the back wall of the set. On the counter space in the middle of the kitchen, several meals were in the midst of being prepared while two children danced around, juggling ingredients while attempting to balance with a foot pointed high in the air. Mettaton stood by them, in his boxy, calculator form. He had a pink sweatband stretched around his rectangular head, and a single rose legwarmer over the rod attached to his wheel. He rolled around the children, guiding them while also dancing himself.

One of the children stood perfectly poised, toe pointed, legs sturdy and straight. They wore a fluffy pink tutu and ballet slippers so dance seemed to be their habit. The food they were in front of however, seemed to be a mess of colours, broken eggs and their shells, and unmixed ingredients. The other child had a cute apron tied around their torso, with a little green heart embroidered on its deep pockets. There was a lot of food dropped on the floor by their side of the counter, but the display in front of them seemed somehow ready to cook and it was likely it would turn into something good. They also seemed like they would fall over any second they had their leg in the air. Mettaton noticed that a large crowd had entered his stage and whirled around curiously to discover them.

"Oh? I don't usually get an audience for my lessons! Hello there Undyne, children, Blooky, Mad." Mettaton waved his poofy gloved hand at the kids in a friendly but showy manner, giving a little extra spunk to his wave to Napstablook. The ghost seemed to just droop and appear more sad than before.

"Oh oh! Hello Mettaton!!" Papyrus waved frantically in the air, stretching his hand above the heads of everyone so the robot would see him. Mettaton looked up and waved to Papyrus as well.

"Hello there Darling!" Frisk stepped forward towards Mettaton, sliding their bag down into their hands. It was easier to find what they wanted since it was emptier than before. Frisk took a small magenta book out from their backpack that was sealed with a tiny golden heart lock that had tiny pink gems affixed to it as well as the keys for it on a string tied to the lock. "What's this? For me? Sweetheart you shouldn't have!" Mettaton said with fake humility. He took the book and inspected it before gasping in pixilated shock. "Oh it's a diary!! Darling what a fabulous gift! How did you guess I collect these?" Mettaton held the precious gift to his flat body, already planning what he would write on its first page. Frisk fluffed their messy overgrown hair and kicked the ground shyly, dodging the question.

"The kid's been handing out all kinds of suspiciously fitting gifts to us since they fell down here." Sans spoke up, unintentionally nestling into his comfy scarf so his eyes were nearly hidden.

"Yeah!! They gave me a whistle!!" Undyne said and then blew into it loudly to demonstrate.

"Nyeh! Undyne!" Papyrus complained but she only laughed and tried to put him into a headlock.

"Ah....fantastic..." Mettaton said dryly to Undyne before returning his focus to Frisk. "So you're the last human the prince has been raving about hm? I guess you aren't here to enroll in my star lessons then right?" Frisk shook their head.

I am escorting the human to the castle to meet the royal family as they requested!" Papyrus explained, stepping forward so he could puff his ribs out and pose heroically.

"More like they're escorting us. They've been leading the way the whole time." Sans said. "It's almost like they've been here before." Frisk wasn't sure if they could explain the situation to Sans, or to anybody. Besides the memories being far too raw and painful at the moment, it was probably best for Frisk to carry the burdens of a lost timeline to themself. Sure, Sans might be one of the only people to understand, but the poor skeleton had enough plaguing his mind that Frisk was determined to fix. They wanted to be more subtle about their familiarity with the underground, but they had a plan and it was hard to be subtle with their ever growing posse. Frisk slipped by Mettaton so they could introduce themself to the two children who had paused their lesson to listen to the monsters talk.

"Hi, I'm Frisk." They said and smiled at the two other children. "We're all...going to the castle...do you want to come with us?" Frisk asked hopefully. The children looked skeptically to each other and then to Mettaton with uncertainty.

"I dunno...we're in the middle of a thing with Mettaton. He's teaching us how to put on a great show!" The child in the apron said, holding the drawstrings for said apron in their hands and twirling them in their fingers.

"It's hard to get an availability in Mettaton's busy schedule so we don't get these lessons often. I don't want to waste it. Sorry." The child in the tutu apologized. Even at rest, they were perfectly held together and delicately elegant. Frisk's heart dropped. They tried to think of another way to convince the children to come along.

"Darlings we're going on a field trip! Pack up and let's get going to the castle! Since the whole symbolic 'seven human souls' have all fallen into the underground, I can't doubt the prince has some flashy party planned to celebrate you all! And I am never one to miss a spectacular party!" Mettaton whipped off his sweatband and tossed it into the air carelessly behind him. Papyrus excitedly scrambled to grab it while Undyne fought him for it just because she could. It ended up landing on Sans' head which he was mildly amused by. He gave it to Papyrus, who squealed in delight to be holding his idol's sweatband.

"This is the best day of my life!" Papyrus squeaked, rubbing the sweatband up against his skull. Since Mettaton had decided the lesson was over, the two humans he was teaching had no other choice but to tag along with Frisk which they were rather indifferent about. Walking from Mettaton's stage to Alphys' lab they eventually came upon two of the royal guards, standing tall and intimidating in their dark armor. When they saw Undyne amongst the approaching crowd they saluted her stiffly.

"Undyne, like, what are you doing in Hotland?" One of the guards, with floppy bunny ears sticking out of his helmet, asked.

"Dying is what I'm doing. This armor is killing me. Why did Alphys only put a water cooler at the entrance to Hotland? There should be a water cooler every two feet!!" She complained, huffing and puffing while inside of her armor she was drying out.

"Undyne that's silly, who would need that much water?" Papyrus asked.

"Me!!!!" Undyne shouted at him.

"I've got some ketchup and mustard in one of my sentry stations down here if you want to drink that." Sans offered, grinning up at Undyne who grimaced at him.

"Ew. No thanks." While they talked, Frisk pulled a long fluffy rag out from their bag and flipped it out to unroll it. They walked over to one of the guards, who had sharp scales poking up from behind his sharp, stoic seeming helmet. Frisk began buffing the guard's armor with the rag, cleaning it off for them.

"...Thanks?" The guard thanked the child, though he was confused by the unprovoked and unwanted cleaning. As Frisk polished his armor, the true heat of the magma filled area seeped in through the metal. The second guard began feeling hotter and hotter until he couldn't take it anymore. He had to get relief and so he threw off his chestplate to expose his rippling scaly chest.

"Um....???" Undyne proclaimed her confusion, though didn't scold her underling since she was on the cusp of throwing her own armor off as well just to get some kind of cool on her scales. The guard that stood beside the shirtless one seemed greatly uncomfortable by the exposure of his comrade. He fidgeted and did his best to look away while the other one stood like a statue. Frisk went to the nervous guard with the bunny ears and took his hand. They patted the back of it comfortingly and told the guard that perhaps he should confess his true feelings. At first, the flustered guard played dumb and pretended not to know what Frisk was talking about but he quickly caved in. He was overworked by the frantic beating of his heart and the long yearning ache for his partner. He confessed to him, right then and there, in front of everyone that he wanted to be with him and that he loved him.

"Bro...." The second guard was moved and together, the two of them went off to go get some nice cream. Frisk basked in a job well done and then set off to Alphys' lab.

"Wow....so that happened???" Undyne was reeling from shock and confusion. "My guards just...left to go on a date...left their post....right in front of me...ok??? I mean it's not like there's any real need for guards besides making the humans feel safe....but still!!"

"Yeah!! They could have at least invited us!!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"Yeah!!" Undyne agreed vigorously. Frisk went up to the front door of Alphys' lab while the rest of the group turned to head towards the convenient elevator system.

"Human! Over here!" There are elevators that will make the trip much faster to the castle!" Papyrus called for Frisk.

"Yes pleeeeaase! I'm so tired of this place!" Undyne moaned in agony.

"It's a far longer trip that way Darling! The only one you'd find there is Dr. Alphys and I bet she's too busy right now trying to find us a way to break the barrier synthetically. It's been her obsession for so long now she hardly ever leaves her lab. It's pathetic really but important." Ignoring the others, Frisk knocked on Alphys' door. Finding it was open, Frisk just went inside after nobody immediately answered their knock. As they entered the dark laboratory they could hear Undyne blowing her whistle in distress. Frisk carried on inside and knowingly navigated their way through the dark to where Alphys' 'bathroom' was. They knocked on the door. Then they knocked again. They knocked a third time and called her name.

"Why are you trying so hard to see Dr. Alphys kid? You see that sign there? It says bathroom and you shouldn't bother someone in the bathroom, it's rude." Sans said, the lights in the lab on and he was suddenly right behind Frisk. The child jumped but otherwise was undeterred by the skeleton's appearance and continued pounding on the 'bathroom' door. After a while of making noise, Frisk could hear Alphys approaching the door by her muttering and claws clicking against the floor. The metal door slid open with a whoosh and she inspected the child who was calling her.

".......Can I.....help you?" She asked this strange, unknown child.

"Alphys you shouldn't keep hiding it from everyone." Frisk said and Alphys suddenly looked as if she had been slapped.

"Wh....w-what are you talking about?" She asked, anxiously darting her eyes back to a suspicious gurgle deep into the dark 'bathroom' behind her.

"They're going to accept you for who you are...and even what you did."

 

"H-h-how do you know....a-about..." Alphys' voice was tense and squeaky. Her claws clacked together as her hands shook. Frisk only offered her a warm smile and then brought down their backpack. They reached inside and pulled out a DVD entitled, 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie: One More Kiss'. Alphys' eyes went wide at the sight of it. "What." Her hands were reaching out to it before Frisk even fully removed it from their bag. Once she had her claws on its thin plastic case a screech began to build in her throat. It was like a siren that grew into her shrieking as she held the DVD case aloft in the air. "THEY DID A REMAKE?!!?" She was tearing the case open frantically, breaking off little chips of plastic as she did. She gazed upon the little disc with a cute little cat girl posing beside the name of the show and screamed again.

Concerned by Alphys' screaming, a dripping form lurched from the darkness. The shadow grew and grew into a monstrous, gelatinous shape behind the scientist. It stooped down and a white goopy head with a bottomless black hole in the center of its face came into the light. It seemed to sniff her curiously and its little triangular ears perked up and flicked around to detect the noises it was hearing. Alphys didn't notice the Amalgamate immediately until it nudged her arm with its sticky head that stretched to remain connected to her when the creature pulled away. Alphys stiffened, gritting her teeth together hard.

"What...is that?" Sans asked, leaning sideways to get a better look at the dog-like blob monster.

"N-n-nothing!! It's nothing!!" Alphys shoved the creature's face back into the shadows and tried to throw it down into her lab to which the dripping dog monster whimpered and whined in confusion. Frisk smiled at the monster's gaping hole for a face and stooped down so they could pat their thighs to beckon it. Being summoned, the Amalgamate bounded by Alphys, knocking her over and tromping into full view. Shadowy slime coated down from their legs, appearing like tiny cats, or perhaps shapely dogs sitting between their white limbs. The Amalgamate patted its paws on the floor, ducking its head down low while its rear lifted to the air and its tail flicked around excitedly. Frisk smiled and brought out the stick they had found on their way up the mountain. The Amalgamate froze, captured by the object. It began to whine impatiently while its tail went crazy behind it. Frisk reeled their arm back and launched the stick across Alphys' lab. The Amalgamate flipped around, its feet slipping on the smooth floor as it scrambled to run after the stick. Eventually it got traction and ran over to where the stick had fallen by Alphys' cluttered desk. It bent over the stick and sucked one of its ends into its gaping face hole which began to leak a white froth. The Amalgamate brought the stick back to Frisk and let it slowly slide out from the oozing orifice in its head to the floor. It seemed...proud?

"What....the heck is that thing?!" Undyne asked, recoiling from the massive beast that was hunched over Frisk.

"Whooooa dude it's like a dog!" Monster Kid cried out, peeking into the lab around Undyne's leg. Alphys' yellow skin went sickly pale and her eyes bulged out at the sight of Undyne standing at her door.

"U-U-U-Undyne!!" Alphys' entire body began to shake violently. She stepped back like she was about to retreat down into her true laboratory while extending her hand out into the air, as if to reclaim the exposed abomination. It was too late however, to take back what she had done and she knew her sins were at last out of her reach. "N-no....don't....d-don't look at it..." Alphys stumbled back. It seemed like she was about to choose hiding over masking the Amalgamate. Undyne's sharp, wide eye turned on Alphys, filled with confusion. The fish monster took a step into the lab, lifting her hand up from her side. "D-D-DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Alphys cried out, collapsing to her knees. She slapped her hands up over her face, pressing her palms tightly against her eyes.

"Is that what you've been hiding down there?" Sans asked, staring down the long stairway into Alphys' real laboratory. Alphys could only sob in response. She crumpled into a ball, shaking and jerking for the sounds that tore from her gut and the air she sucked desperately into her aching lungs.

"Alphys...." Undyne gently pushed Monster Kid's face back towards the door. "Wait outside with Papyrus, kid." She said.

"Aww what?" The little dinosaur was about to argue but instead, reluctantly obeyed and went back outside. Alphys' composure was broken, despite how tightly she squeezed her arms around herself she was crumbling. She didn't want everyone to see how she really was, what she had really done. There were people that tolerated her, perhaps even liked her but undoubtedly they would leave her and cast her away. She felt a small hand touch her back, too gently to be Undyne and too soft to be Sans. Alphys sniffled wetly and then peeked over to see who was touching her. She saw Frisk, knelt down at her side. This child, whom she had never met before, though somehow felt oddly familiar to her. They had said everyone would accept her. How could they have known that? She felt a wet glob of something splatter on the side of her head. She shivered at the unpleasantness and was then nuzzled by something sticky yet soft. The Amalgamate whined and wiped its dripping face on Alphys' to comfort her.

"I....I-I..." Her voice splintered and her teeth chattered while tears continued to fall from her eyes.

"Alphys." Undyne said sternly and the little scientist looked up immediately to see Undyne's harsh eye staring down at her seriously. "You made this thing?" She asked. It broke Alphys' heart to admit the truth, but somehow it seemed like the human child already knew what she had done and their hand on her back didn't waver. It gave her strength to think once she said it out loud, that hand wouldn't move away.

 

"A-and more..." Alphys muttered quietly. "They're the monsters that...'fell down'..." Undyne sucked in a breath sharply between her teeth and Alphys shut her eyes tightly so she didn't have to see what horrible expression Undyne would make. "I was t-trying...t-to make a synthetic soul to b-break the barrier. I i-injected the m-monsters with concentrated amounts of 'Determination' b-but...." Alphys had to stop and shuddered while clenching her fists tightly. Frisk shifted their hand on her back slightly, to remind her they were there. Alphys sighed. "M-monsters' bodies can't handle Determination...w-we're not as physical as humans so instead they all j-just...m-m-melted together. I hid it....all this time because I was scared of what everyone would think of me....I did this...t-to the monsters they loved....their families. I was scared....o-of what you would think of me, Undyne."

"Me?" Undyne asked, confused. She took a few steps closer to Alphys.

"I couldn't bear the thought of you hating me. Of realizing who I really a-am. Everyone else could think I was g-garbage b-but...I couldn't........n-not you..." Alphys sniffled and dug the tears out of her eyes with furious swipes of her hands.

"You don't look any different to me." Undyne said finally. Alphys looked up to her, shocked. She was then frozen with a mixture of hope and concern.

"Wait, you mean like you're okay with this or you always thought I was trash?" Alphys asked. Undyne sneered.

"I'm not okay with this but like...this isn't some discovery to the 'real you'. You're still the same cute...tiny dweeb you always were. You're just a dweeb that made...a bunch of terrifying fusion monsters."

"Thanks?" Alphys said, unsure if she should think of the remark as a compliment or not.

"Look you obviously didn't do this on purpose! You're not some crazy freak that gets your kicks from hurting people or something!" Frisk's hand tensed and then drifted from Alphys' back, but she was too captivated by Undyne to pay it much mind. "I don't care how many monsters you melted together or how long you've been hiding them in your dark creepy basement for! I'll stick with you because you're fun to be around and no matter what...I..." Undyne's eye, for the first time, shifted shyly away from Alphys. "I like you." Alphys let out a tiny gasp.

"Undyne!" Her eyes went wide behind her big glasses.

"S-so yeah!! I'll be there with you and we'll tell everyone about their families together! Since I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard it's not just my duty as your friend, but to the people!" Undyne puffed her chest out and split her mouth wide to grin at Alphys who had began to sweat.

"UNDYNE I LIKE YOU TOO WE SHOULD GO ON A DATE!!" Alphys shouted and then froze in shock at her impulsive outburst.

"What." Undyne said flatly, her eye huge. Her blue cheeks tinted just slightly pink.

"I...I..." Alphys squeaked, quickly draining out any courage she had.

"Say that again." Undyne asked, stepping forward so she stood right in front of Alphys.

"SHE SAID SHE LIKES YOU DARLING! FAAAANTASTIC!" Mettaton hollered in a powerful stage voice as he wheeled over to the group. "At last Dr. Alphys has admitted her feelings to the fish of her affections. I can say for sure, it's a great relief after an agonizing amount of time listening to her sigh your name and write combinations of Unphys and Aldyne all over her work! Even on the blueprints for my wonderful new body! The audience has been screaming for you two to finally get it through your thick heads that you're perfect for each other and now it's finally happened!!" Mettaton threw his arms out wide to the air as several sections of the ceiling popped and confetti rained down over everyone.

"A-audience?" Alphys muttered.

"What audience?" Undyne asked, looking around for a camera.

"That doesn't matter now! I'm just so glad I could be here to witness this beautiful moment in dear Alphys' life! I think such a momentous occasion deserves something special!"

"Oh..." Alphys' voice dropped to a deadpan. Mettaton reached behind him and pushed the big switch on his back to its opposite side. His body chirped and his transformation activated. He danced around excitedly, his body chimed rapidly as his screen flashed different colours. A blinding white light surged from his center and when it faded a shapely human-like metal body stood where the rectangular box robot once had.

"OH YES~" Mettaton moaned, striking a loud pose at his debut. At the door, Papyrus screamed,

"OH MY GOD!!"

"And by the way Alphys, don't worry I'll be standing by you too when you let everyone know about all those little monsters!" Mettaton said, though he seemed far more interested in admiring his gloved nails.

"Heh...yeah...I bet..." Alphys said with a wry smile. Mettaton picked up on the tone and glanced over at her with the one eye not concealed by luscious black, swooping hair.

"Excuse me? Is that a tone I sense? Something you want to say Alphys?" Mettaton asked, his chiseled, handsome face curling to a frown. Alphys looked away from Mettaton and her shoulders hunched to try and make herself smaller.

"I-I just...y-you..." Something that Alphys had been holding inside for a long time was now on the tip of her tongue. It was dying to get out, to escape the tight press of her chest and she wanted it to leave her. "Once I'm done your body...you're going to forget about me, aren't you?" She asked.

"What? Alphys, darling what would make you think that?" Mettaton asked, setting his hands onto his round hips. Renewed emotion welled up in Alphys and as her worries about Mettaton came out, so did dark feelings about him.

"T-that's all you care about...y-your body. It's a-always...w-when's my body going to be done Alphys? How about you work a little o-on my body today? I d-don't want to watch Anime with you Alphys, just hurry up w-with my body...." Alphys sniffled and felt Frisk's hand return to her back.

"Alphys you're over exaggerating! I just don't want to watch Anime because it's terrible, you know that!" Mettaton said, flicking his head to the side and arching his back.

"I'm going to be just like Napstablook..." She said softly. Mettaton's face fell and his pose slowly shifted to a regular, slightly awkward stance.

"What do you mean...?" Mettaton asked.

"You left them all alone! You two used to be inseparable and once we started working on your body you stopped seeing them! I-It was fine when you were hanging out with me...I-I felt special...l-like I mattered to you...b-but now I see that once you get what you want you'll leave me too!"

"I...won't..." Mettaton felt cornered. He drew his arms over the slim glass case positioned under his chestplate that held his pink soul. Frisk once again, drifted from Alphys.

"It's fine....." Napstablook spoke up, solemnly drifting into the lab. The Amalgamate jerked up, seeing the ghost and ran over to Napstablook. It began bounding and trying to catch the little ghost. "I understand how much your dreams mean to you......and that you weren't happy just being with me....."

"Blooky...." Mettaton felt an aching in his soul for his poor, sad little cousin.

"I can see why you'd leave...I wasn't all that fun to be around anyways....." The Amalgamate settled with sitting under where Napstablook was hovering and whined pitifully to the ghost with its ears folded back. "Really....it's okay......I like watching your show and seeing how happy you are to have a body....and to entertain people.........It looks like a lot of fun." Despite Napstablook saying he was alright, acidic tears grew in fat bubbles beside his droopy eyes. "I'm just sorry I wasn't good enough..........."

"Blooky!" Mettaton's voice sparked and fluctuated with his intense emotion. He looked like if he could, he would've started crying as well. "You were more than good enough, Blooky!" The little ghost sniffled and shook their whole body in denial. Frisk began slowly walking around the outside of the group, trying not to disturb the heartfelt interaction.

"It's fine....."

"No it's not!! Blooky I can't stand to hear you talk about yourself that way! I didn't leave because I didn't love you! I just...I just...wanted so badly to have the body of my dreams! I never thought it was possible...to really like myself! I felt empty and horrible and if I wasn't already dead I'm very sure I would've wanted to be!" Napstablook looked up at Mettaton in shock. "I got so caught up in this...I was just so excited....I mean look at me Blooky! I've never looked so amazing and this body is mine! It's me....I'm so close to being complete and....I didn't realize how long it had been. I was looking forward...to what I was going to do...and who I was going to be I didn't notice all the days that you spent by yourself." Mettaton's face was sad, and earnest. He wasn't putting on a show in that moment. "Blooky I promise you that I had every intention of coming back for you once this body was finished. I actually...wanted to perform with you if we ever got to the surface..."

"Really?" Napstablook asked, his mouth dropping open. Mettaton nodded and went over to his cousin to give the little ghost a careful hug.

"I'm sorry I forgot about you, Blooky. That's not the kind of person I want to be." Napstablook's tears sizzled when they hit Mettaton's metal shoulder pads. "And Alphys," Mettaton turned around and gave her a unpolished, but still attractive smile. "I'm not leaving you either. Even after you're finished my body. Once I'm famous, I'm going to need to cherish the people that knew me before I was perfect. The people that love the real me and not just a fabulous star on a screen. I appreciate how much you care Alphys and I'll prove to you that you are truly my friend."

"ABOUT TIME YOU STOPPED BEING A POMPOUS JERK!" Suddenly, Mad Dummy was there, swinging their body violently in the air so their stand could smack Mettaton in the head.

"Ow!! Mad quit it!" Mettaton ducked away from the mannequin, covering the back of his head.

"WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PAID ME A VISIT HUH?!?" Frisk snuck out of the lab while Mad Dummy was stirring up a scene. They saw Papyrus, struggling to keep the children in order. None of them took him seriously and were running around squealing with glee. The child with the abs bandana had tackled the child with the big cloudy glasses and was giving them a noogie despite them crying for mercy while Monster Kid shouted both encouragingly and discouragingly. The child with the tutu was twirling around evasively from Papyrus who was trying to get his arm back from them. They would toss the arm to the child in the heart apron if he got too close. The child with the ribbon kept their distance from everything, looking overcome by all the chaos.

"Papyrus?" Frisk called the skeleton and everyone stopped their antics curiously.

"Ah yes Human! What is it?" He asked and while everyone was frozen, he snatched his arm back. "Nyeh heh heh! I got it!" He popped it back into place and briskly walked over to where Frisk stood.

"Everyone is pretty upset in there. I think they need you to go cheer them up." Frisk said.

"Oh no! Of course I, Master Of Good Cheer Papyrus will make everyone feel better with my dazzling smile! If that fails my infectious laugh will chase away all of their boo- hoos! Nyeh heh heh heh!" Papyrus darted into the lab which didn't give Frisk much time. They ran over to Monster Kid first.

"I just remembered that there's going to be a big celebration at the castle for all of the monsters in the underground! I brought a few of them but I'd feel bad if everyone else was left out!" Frisk said, partially lying but telling enough of the truth they didn't feel guilty about it.

"Oh no are you serious! That sucks, man!" Monster Kid said.

"Do you think you're fast enough to run back to Waterfall and Snowdin, and bring everyone to the castle?" Frisk asked.

"Fast enough? Heck yeah I am!" Monster Kid grinned confidently, several of their sharp teeth missing. "I'll get everyone for you, don't worry dude!" Monster Kid kicked their feet into the air and then took off back to where they came from. They tripped before they got too far and landed flat on their face which a few of the human's hissed or groaned in sympathy for them. Monster Kid got right back up, seemingly unphased by the tumble and continued running away.

"It seems like...you're trying to get rid of everyone else..." The child with the ribbon stepped in to say.

"Yeah...Why did you invite us all to go to the castle with you?" The child with the glasses asked, equally suspicious as the child with the ribbon.

"What are you guys talking about? You heard 'em, there's going to be a HUGE celebration! They wouldn't want us to miss out as that symbol human soul thing!" The child with the bandana said. Frisk wrung their hands together and took a deep, steadying breath.

"Don't you all think...that these monsters deserve to see the surface again?" Frisk asked. 


	15. Chapter 15

The small group of children stepped out of the elevator to a new level of hot rock path.

"So you have a plan to break the barrier...and you need all of us to do it?" The child with the apron asked. Frisk nodded.

"How can we trust you huh? We just met you punk!!" The child with the bandana asked loudly and tried to put Frisk in a headlock.

"I'm going to be part of it too. I'm one of the humans that we need to do it! I'll be doing everything just like you guys but I need you all to trust me because...it's going to sound crazy." Frisk ducked away from the bandana human's sweeping arm and backed up by a long table lined with croissants and colourful doughnuts.

"Hello there, Humans. Care to buy something from the bake sale?" A sly, smooth little voice asked them from the table. Muffet sat expectantly, staring at each of the children with her many beady eyes while all six of her arms were folded in front of her. Frisk whirled around and smiled at the spider monster. They went over to her table and dropped their bag down hard onto it. The way it jangled like loose change against glass perked Muffet right up.

"I don't want any food, but I need to buy a favour from you."

"Ohhhh~ I hope you can afford it little morsel~" She giggled in amusement. When Frisk tipped over their bag, carefully holding something inside, out spilled a mountain of coins. All of Muffet's eyes went wide. She smiled widely. "This is human money, Dearie. What can I do with that here?" She asked.

"It'll go a long way on the surface." Frisk said, peaking Muffet's interest.

 

 

 

 

"So bribing a spider lady is part of your big plan to break the barrier?" The child in the tutu asked, tip toeing beside Frisk as they made distance from Muffet who was counting the money in her huge pile. Frisk nodded and then noticed a child hiding behind a rock, staring at Muffet. The last human child. Frisk approached them.

"Hi-"

"AH!" The child whipped out a gun and pointed it at Frisk who quickly jerked out of the way of its barrel but the children behind them all put their hands up. Once the child with the gun realized they were no threat, they lowered the weapon and scoffed. "Don't sneak up on me pard'ner. I coulda shot yer head clean off with my glock here." The child tipped their brown cowboy hat up with their gun in a cool gesture, though unknowingly pointed the barrel right at their forehead when they did, and smirked.

"Sorry! I'm Frisk, I'm new to the underground!" They held their hand out to the cowboy who took it and gave it a firm shake.

"Nice ta meet ya pardner. I'm the sheriff of the underground, keeping order and dishin' out justice wherever I am."

"Is that gun even loaded?" The child with the glasses peeked around the group and asked. The cowboy clicked their tongue and jerked their head away.

"Never assume it 'aint or you'll lose yer head kid." They said vaguely.

"We're all on our way to the castle so we can break the barrier and set everyone free! Can-" Frisk didn't get a chance to finish their plea before the cowboy stood up and put their hand up to them.

"Say no more! It's 'bout time these critters get outta the corral. I'm with ya Frisk!" This child was perhaps the easiest recruitment and Frisk was thankful for that. They all headed out together for the castle.

"Are you going to tell us exactly what your plan is for breaking the barrier?" The ribbon child asked. A few other children hummed in agreement to the question.

"I'll tell you guys everything when we get there. I have to tell the prince too." They explained.

"The prince is in on this?" The child in the apron asked. Frisk nodded.

"We can't do it without him." Frisk said. The children all felt more comfortable with the idea knowing the prince was a part of it, someone they knew and trusted as a powerful and kind monster. They didn't fuss about the unknown plan as much on their trip.

The seven humans walked the path to the castle which was a high vantage of the vast underground city. Hundreds of buildings, crowded in the dark, stuffy mountain. All the monsters inside of those homes, hoping and dreaming one day for freedom. It reminded Frisk of just how many more people needed them other than just their close friends. It filled them with Determination.

They all came upon a cozy entranceway that appeared to be the front stoop of a house. Frisk became wary at that point. They lifted an arm to have everyone stop and then snuck to the front door carefully. They peeked inside the sweet little home and heard dishes clanging distantly. They crooked their head left and right but didn't see anyone within direct view so they went forward and waved the other humans to follow them. They snuck from the front door to the basement stairs across from it which took them to a long grey hallway that opened up to the city's towers once again.

"We're sneaking. We shouldn't be here should we?" The child with the glasses asked anxiously.

"Please..." Frisk stopped and turned to face all the children they were leading on a blind quest. "I want these monsters to be free...they deserve to see the surface again and even though they could've taken all of your souls when you fell down here, they didn't. They became your friends and family and took care of you. I really...really hope you all love them as much as I do...and want to do anything you can to release them from this mountain. I know I will." Frisk clenched their jaw and lowered their eyebrows firmly. They lifted a clenched fist and nodded to the children with certainty. It was difficult to argue with Frisk's unwavering confidence and heart. Though a few were uneasy they continued sneaking to the throne room. They passed by a hallway decorated like a church with stained glass images of the Delta Rune in beautiful yellow glass. Though the silent air of the hall and warm aura of it should have brought peace, Frisk couldn't stop shaking horribly as they walked through it. They wrapped their arms tightly around their uneasy stomach and pushed on with their wobbly legs.

They soon arrived just outside of the throne room which exuded a fresh, clean sensation in the air billowing out of it. Down the hall, down the stairs where Frisk knew the basement was, something heavy was tromping around and Frisk made a bet it was Asgore. Though they were curious to see what had replaced the coffins in that room, they also had very little desire to return the children to the room where they all once were put to rest. Frisk led the children into the throne room. Three massive, regal, and spiky golden thrones were set up in the far middle of the room. The two largest were on either side of a slightly smaller one between them. Warm sunlight poured into the area, though it no longer had even a single yellow flower to feed. There was just soft grass, lovingly fed green all around the floor. Unlike the throne room from another time, this one had a slender goat monster bent over the middle chair, gazing boredly at the ceiling. This monster, Frisk had only seen in a memory that wavered like a dream. It was a momentary struggle to push their name out from their thick throat.

"Asriel!" Frisk called. The goat prince's head snapped down and wide eyes locked onto Frisk. He slid clumsily from his chair, catching himself and standing to his full, looming height. He was nearly as tall as Toriel and surely would eventually outgrow Asgore. Frisk took a step forward, laughing softly as tears rolled down their cheeks.

"Frisk..." Asriel breathed, his voice far deeper than the one he owned as a flower. It still carried a gentle softness Frisk remembered from that one, sad encounter they had with a projection of Asriel's childhood form. Tears fell from Asriel's eyes as well and soaked into his soft white fur. He grabbed and lifted the skirt of his rich purple robes and ran to Frisk to give the child a tight embrace. He lifted Frisk off of their feet since they were so much shorter than him. Frisk buried their face in Asriel's fluffy neck and squeezed the monster as tightly as they could. "It's been ages....a-and you make me wait even more....you idiot." Frisk laughed. Neither of them had any intention of letting go just yet.

"I had to get everything ready. I didn't understand what had happened until a few years ago...and from then until now I was making sure I got everything done."

"What? What are you talking about?" Asriel asked, loosening his hold on Frisk and setting them down.

"I've brought all the humans here so we can break the barrier and set everyone free." Frisk said, wiping their tears with a smile. Asriel's smile however dropped right from his face.

"What." He said darkly. Frisk continued to smile and removed their backpack from their shoulders.

"Everything is almost perfect...and I need your help to finish this Asriel." Frisk's eyes turned sad and their smile was more of an attempt at comfort as they opened their backpack. They showed Asriel the last thing inside of their bag was a large jar filled to the top with buttercups.

"No." Asriel growled, stomping away from Frisk and their horrible bag.

"Asriel listen!" Frisk ran after the large monster, back to his throne where he put both of his paws down onto the arms of it to brace himself. "You can bring us back! You've done it before. You know the power you'll have!" Frisk attempted to reason with him.

"Everything doesn't have to be 'perfect' Frisk! Why are you so obsessed with tying every loose end? It's fine just like this! Everyone is alive...and happy...and you're here and I'm here! That's enough for me!" Asriel said, digging his claws into the golden chair.

"This isn't enough Asriel! They want to be free! They'll be so much happier on the surface, you know that! We owe it to them after what we did." Asriel sucked in a sharp breath and grit his teeth together. "I can't...not do this...after what I did..." Frisk's voice became throaty and tight which they attempted to cough to fix.

"Frisk..." Asriel peeked back over his shoulder hesitantly.

"You feel that right Asriel? The guilt, the shame, the pain? You can feel it all now just like me right?" Frisk gripped their shirt tightly, clawing their fingers into their throbbing chest. Asriel's body shook and he swung his head down to hang it submissively.

"Not again, Frisk...please...I don't want to see you die." Asriel begged fruitlessly.

"You'll bring us back. It'll be okay Asriel. Promise me you'll bring us back and we'll be fine." Asriel shuddered and sniffled. He took a long breath through his nose and then stood up tall.

"I promise...no matter what Frisk I'll bring you back." He said, turning to look at his smiling little friend and then the horribly confused and worried humans behind them. Asriel was terrified but as Frisk slid their little hand into his shaking paw he felt a little braver. With a heavy heart he let Frisk lead him into the next room, where the barrier extended into an endless hallway nearby.

"What's going on?" The ribbon child asked.

"What do you want us to do to open the barrier?" The glasses child asked.

"Tell us the plan now!"

"What are you hiding from us?"

Frisk finally turned to the children and took the jar of flowers out of their bag. They showed it to each of them but they all looked confused. Frisk unscrewed the cap of the jar and put it down on the ground. Asriel had to walk away, he couldn't bear to look at it.

"To break the barrier we need seven human souls." Frisk said.

"Right and we're all here." The tutu child said with a delicate wave of their arm.

"And a host to use the power of all of those souls." Frisk continued, pausing to see if any of them caught on which they seemed on their way to. "These are buttercups...which if you eat them...you can get really really sick and even die." Frisk gestured to the jar of flowers and then looked up as the cogs in the children's brains turned and their plan was figured out. The child with the glasses was the first to gasp in horror.

"You want us to eat those and die!!" They exclaimed. Frisk nodded somberly.

"What!? Are you crazy?!" The bandana child yelled.

"I don't want to die!!" The apron child cried.

"You brought us all the way here to kill us..." The ribbon child muttered numbly.

"I'm fine being down here even if they're all trapped! I want to keep living!!" The tutu child said, holding their shaking body. The cowboy child didn't say anything.

"Once Asriel has all of our souls, he'll be strong enough to break the barrier and he'll be strong enough to bring us back! I promise you guys he can do it and that we won't be dead forever!" Frisk said, holding their hands out to the panicking group of children. Their promise calmed a few down slightly.

"C-can you...Asriel?" The ribbon child asked, looking over to the tall goat monster's back. He didn't look over to them.

"Yes." He said simply, in a quiet voice.

"I don't know...." The ribbon child said uneasily, not entirely convinced.

"You never know...something could go wrong...we don't have all the facts..." The glasses child whimpered.

"I-I'm scared..." The tutu child said, holding the apron child's hand as they both quivered.

"I'll do it." The cowboy child's voice proclaimed powerfully. They stepped forward from the group and stood beside Frisk and the flowers.

"What happened to these monsters all those years ago wasn't right. They've been locked down here fer years an' years and now we have a chance to give 'em justice! I've been waitin' fer this chance and I won't pass it up." The child holstered their gun and set their hands on their hips with their chest puffed out. Not wanting to be outdone, the child with the bandana was the next to step up to the jar of flowers.

"We'd better come back you hear me! I'll become a ghost and make sure you're one too just so I can kick your butt if you're wrong!" They punched their own hand threateningly and frowned to appear more tough but Frisk could see they were shaking as well. They offered the scared child a smile. With two more children for it, the other four were considering the plan, but were still greatly apprehensive and untrusting. After a long while of tense silence, Frisk decided to make a statement and set the urgency. They bent over the jar of flowers and reached inside with both hands, pulling out two handfuls of flowers.

"We have to eat a lot...so we don't just get sick...I'm here with you all. I'm scared too." Frisk stared down at the brightly coloured flowers they knew meant their demise and swallowed hard. They took a deep breath that didn't do much to calm them down. "I want to do this...so badly...but I don't want to die either. I want to live with my friends...but on the surface. I'm not done here...no way. I'm coming back." Frisk inhaled through their nose and willed the tears in their eyes to drain. They opened their mouth and stuffed the flowers in. Dirt, grass, and something sour spread onto their tongue. They chewed the flowers, their body immediately willing them to gag. They covered their mouth with both hands to keep the flowers down and after furiously chewing them, swallowed the buttercups. There was no going back. They looked up at the children, sharing their terrified expression. As they felt the flowers settle in their stomach, their body screamed at them that they were making a mistake.

Following Frisk's lead, the bandana child and the cowboy child both rushed to grab handfuls of the flowers, trying to get theirs before the other. It was like a distraction to race the other so they both scarfed down their flowers while staring the other right in the eye. As they swallowed, they joined Frisk in resignation to their fate as well as a growing sensation of regret. None of them said anything, but looked on to the children who hadn't yet poisoned themselves. Under the fearful eyes of the dying children, and their belief they would be brought back, the child with the glasses stepped forward.

"Th...there's no sense in some of you dying...f-for nothing..." They tried to bring reason and put down their hefty book so they could grab handfuls of yellow flowers to eat. They hesitated. Everything they believed in went against this rash decision, but everything they knew was already thrown aside ever since they fell into the mountain. All of the children had known a closeness to death just by falling down, and by exploring a mountain with such a legend as to steal people away forever. The underground was a wondrous new world to them and living there was an adventure, but they all felt a longing to go home as well, if only just the smallest bit. Four children stared at three, waiting for their decision as they digested the sickening buttercups. The child with the apron, knowing very well how awful ingesting anything bad would feel, had personal experience to back up their reservation. They didn't want to throw up, and be in pain. So much pain that they would die from it. They were sure their friend felt the same until they let go of their hand. The tutu child stepped up to the jar and reached down into it.

"I want to dance with Mettaton one day...on stage...His dream is the same as mine and I want to make them both come true." They ate the buttercups fiercely and swallowed them before the nauseating taste settled too badly on their tongue. They looked back to the apron child, who stood without a partner anymore. They slowly shuffled over to the jar of flowers and while sniffling, they took their handfuls. The tutu child rubbed the apron child's back as they tearfully ate the flowers. "I believe in Frisk. We're going to be okay." They said. Six children were poisoned and only one was left. The child with the ribbon, the oldest of them all stood back and watched in horror as they all gave in. Still, it wasn't enough. If they didn't eat the flowers too, then everyone would die for nothing. It was all on them, their lives were on the one child. They were paralyzed with fear. Each of the six children seemed much calmer after eating the flowers, though the one in the apron continued to cry. The ribbon child had been the first of them to fall down, and had lived in the underground the longest. They cared about the monster friends they had made, and truly wished for them to be free but the unknown of death was too daunting. They couldn't do it.

"I-I'm sorry...I..." They didn't want to abandon the children but they didn't want to stay and watch them die. They didn't want them not to come back, but they also didn't want to know what it felt like to pass on. Their eyes were all so sad but also Determined. Each of them wanted to live, and also to give this gift to the monsters that had saved them. Surely, after all of those years, they deserved to see the stars. One slow step after another, the ribbon child walked to the jar of flowers. They looked down at the collection, that Frisk had been carrying since they had fallen down. Ever since the beginning, Frisk had planned to bring them all to die, but Frisk was the first to eat them and Frisk was going to die too. The ribbon child looked at Frisk then, and saw how fiercely their eyes shone. They weren't alone. They had each other and Asriel had said he could bring them back. They had to believe. The ribbon child hurriedly stuffed three handfuls of flowers into their mouth and crunched them down as fast as they could. They groaned and gagged but refused to let the flowers out until they slid down their throat. Then it was done. They had all eaten the flowers. They would all be sick. There was still a fair amount of flowers in the jar and a growing concern that they hadn't had enough spread amongst them. They had already eaten the flowers. Eating more just ensured they died and didn't get horribly, painfully ill. The seven children finished the jar while Asriel stood far, far away, holding back his tears.

 

 

As time passed, the children grew paranoid. Any ache, any dizzy spell sparked terror that their death had begun. The future only seemed bleak and many of them regretted what they had done. They were crying and holding each other. Some debated running to Toriel in the hopes that she would save them, but then they'd abandon the others. Nobody left, and everyone shed their share of tears except for Frisk. They sat down on the floor, staring at the endless stream of the barrier extending into forever. The void that trapped their friends underground, that prevented them from truly escaping when death fell from the mountain. They wanted to run away just as much as the other children but there were echos that called to them. The cries and pleas of their friends doing their best to reach them that grounded Frisk. They died too many times to end up trapped in a mountain. If Frisk didn't do this, they wouldn't be able to live with themself. Their haunting memories gave them Determination.

"My stomach hurts..." One of the children groaned, hunched over as they paced the white room.

"M-my throat is burning..."

"What if it takes me days to die?"

"Will my soul be enough?"

Frisk stood up and decided they had to encourage the brave children that were giving their lives. They approached the cluster of scared humans and glanced at Asriel tucked away against the wall, facing away from them.

"It's going to work...it has to work." Frisk said, digging their fingers into their stomach as if the pressure would sooth the fiery scorch that was eating their insides. Their hands itched and tingled uncomfortably, there was some sort of bulbous flappy skin growing on their tongue and inside their throat that hurt when they swallowed. They wanted to throw up as many of the other children did but everyone was gritting back the squeezing of their stomachs and the rising bile heating their chests.

"What's going on in here?" Frisk's hot, clammy skin rushed with cold at the sound of that sweet, gentle voice. One of the children fell over, another burst into a horrible coughing fit. They were groaning and collapsing left and right, succumbing to unbearable pain.

"M-mom!" Asriel gasped. Frisk turned around, looking at the large goat monster with their sunken eyes and pallid skin.

"What is wrong with you all? You look terribly ill!" Toriel exclaimed, hurrying over to the group of children.

"Mom wait don't!" Asriel stood and attempted to fend off his mother, without any sort of plan. Frisk stepped forward between her and the other humans.

"Child do not be afraid I can help you all. You must be the human my son said would be falling down. Please come here." She held out her big, fluffy paw to Frisk, smiling with love and concern shining in her eyes. Frisk hated that when they got to see her again, it was like this. They pulled out their stick and slapped her hand away with it. "OH!" Toriel cried out in pain and retreated just a bit from the pain. Frisk spread their feet apart and lifted the stick to Toriel, making it clear they intended to fight her. "My child, please. Why are you fighting me? I only wish to help." Frisk bit back their tears and slashed at Toriel with their stick, smacking her with a painful snap. She stumbled back and lowered her eyebrows angrily. "That is enough of that child. Get out of my way." She growled commandingly, summoning balls of flickering fire into her palms. Frisk did not move from their spot, and gripped the stick harder so it would not slip from their shaking fingers.

"F-frisk! C'mon that's enough!" Asriel called out.

"Asriel please help me! Gather the children and bring them to safety! Asgore can surely help them!" Toriel begged her son. Asriel whimpered and backed away to the wall yet again.

"I'm sorry..." He said and turned his head away.

"Asriel!" Toriel yelled sternly and Frisk hit her with their stick again. "I do not wish to harm you child but if you are intent on letting these children die I will stop you!" She sent a line of fire at Frisk with a wave of her arm, careful not to let any of her magic hit the kids behind them. Frisk stumbled away from the fire, just barely dodging the attack and came right back to attack Toriel. "Why are you doing this child? You're in pain too are you not?" Toriel couldn't understand what Frisk was attempting to gain and every second they fought the children were getting sicker.

She sent more fire at Frisk which raining down on them. When one of the flames singed the child's arm she cut off the attack in the hopes that would deter them. It did not. Frisk wheezed from their fidgeting mouth. Their teeth were bared and kept opening and closing like they were trying to clench their teeth and avoid doing that at the same time. Their eyebrows twitched and their eyes squinted painfully. Sweat dripped down from their chin, mixing with the tears streaming down their cheeks. Frisk told Toriel they didn't want to fight her.

"Then why do you stand in my way? If you do not wish to fight, then move!" Toriel cried out in confused anger. She swept her hand across the air to summon a line of fire and sent them all gliding in towards Frisk. When one of them hit the child, again she stopped her attack. Frisk needed a moment to compose themself, and will themself to hang on. The world was turning fuzzy and a fire of their own was swallowing their belly. It hurt so badly but if they didn't keep fighting, Toriel would surely heal the children. They had to do this. Frisk drew strength from their Determination. Although they had some food tucked away in their bag, the idea of eating anything at that moment threatened to make them heave the contents of their stomach to the floor.

"Hey are you okay?!" One of the children cried out behind Frisk.

"They're dying! They're not breathing!" A young, raspy voice sobbed.

Toriel summoned a hailstorm of fire to pour down from above Frisk which she pushed herself to keep going even as the fire burned away the child's skin when they sluggishly tried to run between the blasts. When Frisk fell over she finally ceased the attack.

"That is enough!" She cried. Frisk once again had to draw from their heart, which was beating in slow, powerful thumps in their chest and ears. They drew energy from their cause and their love for their friends and stood back up.

"I can't feel their heart beating!" A child said behind Frisk.

"You can't go before me! We ate them at the same time!" A collective gasp rushed in behind Frisk and even Toriel paused to look on in horror as an Orange light steadily glowed on the floor. She stepped forward and Frisk held her back with their stick.

"Is this your plan? Did you come here to kill all of these children?" Toriel asked, tears welling up in her eyes. Frisk breathed out deeply and glared as hard as they could at Toriel, honing their focus on her so the world didn't slip away. "Why? Why would you do this?" She asked and then sent more fire to incapacitate Frisk. Frisk slipped by most of the flames but felt pain wrack their body even as they stood before her after. Their body was being torn apart from the inside and all they could do was keep holding on.

"Hey not you too!" A child cried.

"I'm scared!"

"I don't want to die!" A yellow light joined the orange on the floor. Frisk told Toriel to stop fighting them.

"I won't let these children die! No matter what you're planning I won't let this happen!" She slashed her paw at Frisk and stopped when it knocked the child to the ground. She tried to advance but Frisk quickly stood in her way yet again. "Stop it!" She cried out, her voice breaking. Frisk had to compose themself. Scraping for the last of their power was the only way they could keep going. Toriel sent more fire, but as Frisk fell to the ground she couldn't bear to finish them off, even as they endangered the other children. She curved the fire away, hoping just its precense would intimidate them.

"Together....we're...together..."

"We're coming back...." Two weak voices spoke to each other as something hard hit the ground behind Frisk. A purple light joined the growing rainbow reflected on the floor.

"Children! Please hang in there!" Toriel called to them. She noticed how deeply Frisk was panting and the struggle they endured just to keep that stick poised towards her. "Why are you doing this?" Frisk endured their pain. Toriel attempted to push by Frisk by knocking them to the ground again but the human was horribly persistent and she was smacked across the face by their stick. Green and Blue light mixed together amongst the others.

"Frisk......." The last child called their name. There was only one more to stall for. Once they were dead Frisk could let go. Frisk was confident that they could hold Toriel back until their friends all piled into the barrier chamber.

"So this is where you all ran off to!" Undyne shouted as she stomped through the doorway.

"Why did you leave us behind humans?" Papyrus was right behind her.

"O-oh no..." Alphys gasped as she waddled into the room and saw the pile of children's bodies on the ground and their souls floating above their empty corpses.

"Should've known you'd pull something like this." Sans muttered darkly, just there beside Papyrus.

"Please help me! Help the children!" Toriel begged. Frisk bolstered their Determination, despite the unfavourable odds they had to fend off all of their friends.

"Got it queenie! NGAHHH!" Undyne roared and charged forward to where Frisk was blocking the last living child. Before she reached them, she fell flat on her face. "WHAT?!" She fought to return to her feet, but her legs were bound with sticky thread.

"Undyne!" Papyrus was the next to run ahead but something invisible stood in his way and snatched him up from the ground. He floated, as if stuck to an imaginary wall. "Oof! Help! I can't move!"

"Agh! Release me! You're ruining my polish!" Mettaton grunted behind them. Toriel attempted to raise her hand but found she too was wrapped in hair thin thread.

"Ufu fu fu fu~ Sorry your majesty but you can't stop this anymore~ Why don't you give up?" A high voice giggled. Muffet descended from the high ceiling with a canopy of tiny spiders lowering with her.

"What are you doing?! Release us at once!" Toriel growled.

"Sorry Majesty, but I was paid quite a bit of human money to keep you busy, and what's human money down here? Ufu fu fu~" Muffet giggled and poured a teapot worth of spiders onto the monsters who became increasingly entangled in webs.

"Traitor! Asgore help! Hurry!" Toriel called for her husband, who's power could surely put an end to everything at once.

"Oh the king has been dealt with for a loooong time~ He's wrapped up nice and pretty and tucked away~" No longer having to fight, Frisk whined like a broken machine. They fell to their knees as their limbs were dragged to the floor by the increasing pressure of gravity.

"Asriel! Honey! Please dear why are you letting them die? Even just saving one is worth it! ASRIEL!" Toriel tried to call to her son, while writhing against her growing restraints. Asriel glanced her way with grim emptiness. He finally accepted what was happening and his tears had ceased their flow. Though it pained him to see his dear friend die, he knew without a doubt he would bring them back.

"Uwee hee hee~ No use fighting it! Just sit back and watch our liberation~"

"How could you betray us? Your kingdom, your people!" Toriel yelled accusingly.

"My people, your Majesty, are the spiders who are dying and divided. The human's plan benefits us all and besides just being noble, the money I've been paid will ensure each of my spiders is granted a safe trip from the mountain. I will do whatever I have to, to make sure my children live a good life." Muffet said. Frisk felt something heavy drape over their back. Air whistled and wheezed by their ear.

"I trust you, Frisk......we're going to do it...." The child with the ribbon, the last to eat the buttercups whispered. They slipped off of Frisk's body and fell lifelessly to the floor. A cyan soul rose from their chest and shone strongly onto the floor. There was nobody left to protect. Frisk dragged their body around to look at Asriel and with narrow eyes gave the goat monster an affirmative nod. Asriel taped together his broken composure and approached the collection of souls in the center of the room.

"Asriel NO!" Toriel cried, summoning fire into her hands to burn away the webs around them without concern for injury.

"I got this." Sans said and disappeared from the large pile of webs that carpeted the floor.

"Oh? Now where did you go little skeleton~?" Muffet asked, gazing around the entire room with her many eyes. Frisk shakily rose to their feet, each movement a sluggish lurch. They moved towards Asriel and then saw Sans' back as he appeared between them.

"Sorry your highness but this isn't how I wanna-" As Sans was delivering his line, eye socket blazing blue and one hand poised in the air, Frisk collapsed onto him. The child gripped onto his puffy coat, feeling the very thin hardness of his bones beneath it.

"We're not...going back again..." Frisk was barely able to say. Sans paused. "No more....resets....I...promise...." Sans gasped quietly and after hearing that his hand didn't move. Asriel kept approaching and Frisk slid down to the floor.

"Kid...." Sans turned around to see Frisk's body finally unwind. Life poured out of the child like a breeze of air. Their soul rose up from their chest, with a strong red colour cloaked in golden light. Sans drooped hopelessly seeing the pile of dead bodies before him. Asriel swept by his side and snatched Frisk's soul from the air. They collected each one, holding them preciously to his chest.

"Asriel please! Using their souls...like this...I know you want to be free but stop! Please!" Toriel begged, standing with the other monsters, clothes singed but free.

"It'll be fine mom...Trust me I've done this before." Asriel let the glowing hearts pour into his body. He opened his soul to them, to absorb their flaring spirit. He felt each of their desires, and their final wishes. He felt their personalities merge into him and as his body surged with light, he could almost see them all circling him, holding hands. They all smiled, and they all looked full of Determination. Asriel spread his arms out wide to them and felt their love for the monsters of the underground swelling inside of him. He felt his mouth move, making words he didn't know nor could he hear. Power released from his body in waves and he focused every bit of his magic on tearing apart the barrier. Seven humans' power, built around an endless wall that entrapped them. He shattered that cage with energy that quaked the very castle. His own body moved at a speed beyond time, that had the air around his skin vibrating like a bug's wings. With no sensation of the barrier left, the room became silent and Asriel floated down to the floor. All of the monsters gazed upon Asriel at the peak of godly power. His body was luminous and a rainbow of colours poured from his outline. The hearts he had taken circled around him in a halo around his head. His robes fluttered out by his shoulders, gliding weightlessly behind him. The Delta Rune shone brightly on his chest.

"Asriel..." Toriel spoke in a small, powerless whisper.

"Everything is going to be alright." Asriel said, his voice untethered to their world. It was wispy like smoke yet rumbled in their skin and bone. "We have a great friend....the best friend in the entire world who no matter what wouldn't give up on us." Asriel closed his eyes and lifted his hands to summon the hearts around his head to gather before his palms. "These humans...truly care about us with their entire beings and sacrificed a great deal to make right what their ancestors did." One by one, each of the souls rose up from Asriel's hands and returned to the bodies they belonged to: Cyan, Blue, Green, Purple, Orange, Yellow. Asriel held Frisk's soul in his hands, resonating with the energy of his precious friend. He put it to his forehead and laughed softly. "Thank you, Frisk. Because of you...everything is perfect." Asriel could feel Frisk's soul, yearning to live and pouring out with so much love.

Their Determination, their compassion, their burning desire to kill everything. Asriel's eyes shot open. He held the soul away from his face and saw in its depths, darkness was festering. Agony, spite, malice, cruelty. Something was waiting. Something wanted to live. Chara was waiting to be brought back to life.

"N-no...." Asriel whimpered. Just holding the soul, its golden light punctured into his skin. A rising call chanted in the back of his mind. Kill. Over and over, their driving force was murder. They stabbed their place into Frisk's soul and planted their hatred in the wound. If Asriel brought Frisk back, Chara would come with them. "Frisk...." They had fought so hard to keep the child away. The monsters and Frisk had died countless times for their one do over and it meant nothing. Asriel had the chance to end it forever, to banish Chara's darkness from reality and all he had to do, was let Frisk die. "I...I'm sorry..." he shuddered.

"What's the hold up? When's the part where they all get up?" Sans asked.

"Yeah! Why aren't they waking up?" Papyrus joined in.

"What are you waiting for man? Do it!!" Undyne yelled.

"Asriel...you can bring them back now." Toriel said gently, keeping her distance out of hesitance to bother her son. Asriel's world blurred into a shimmering swirl of golden light. Tears swelled in his eyes and cascaded down his face.

"Frisk...I...." He didn't want to break his promise, but he didn't know what to do. The demise of the entire timeline rested in his hands. Frisk wanted to save everyone no matter what, so wouldn't they want to sacrifice themself if it meant banishing Chara's evil? Asriel felt a thousand apologies clog his throat. The pain that tore through his chest made him wish for the sweet numbness of an empty husk, if only for that moment. If he were Flowey, he could've done it. If he were empty, he would've done it just to see what would've happened. But as Flowey, he could go back and do it over. Asriel wasn't sure who had control over the timeline anymore. He had no idea who wanted to live more. Chara and Frisk were ingrained in him, and their desires were his. He felt them calling to him and both were begging for life. They both wanted to keep going, they both had an overwhelming hope to live. There was no resignation. There was no defeat. All Asriel could feel was boundless energy and desire. Frisk wanted to be brought back to life and so Asriel listened to the child despite his own heart rejecting every sense of the idea. The soul in his hands began to glow like sunlight. Warm, happy yellow light exploded from the little red soul and flooded the room.

The light faded and each of the children slowly rose up from the floor. They looked around at each other, confused as to where they were, and why. Toriel hurried over to them, to check each of their weary faces. Eight children were in the middle of the room but only six woke up. The monsters noticed the two children, laying by each other with their heads pressed together and their legs sticking out at opposite ends. One child had messy, overgrown brown hair and dark, tanned skin. The other child had straight,brown, chopped hair and skin as pale as porcelin. The new child's cheeks were flushed with a rosy tint of life and their chest expanded slowly with gentle breathing. The child opened their eyes and looked at the world with deep red irises. They sat up while the other child remained limp on the floor. The child smiled and chuckled with disbelief. They felt their face and their hair just as they remembered it. They felt a heart beating and a weariness soaking into them. They were alive.

Chara looked down at their hands, and the green clothes they loved so much. When two feet stepped into their view they looked up and saw Asriel glowering down at them.

"Asriel..." Chara spoke, in a high, cheery little voice. "You saved me. I knew we were best friends!" Chara said and laughed gleefully. Asriel, however did not appear even slightly amused.

"I separated the two of you...except your soul is gone now." Asriel said. Chara smiled blankly, feeling their emptiness spread like an echo bouncing in their skin. The heart they felt beating, was Frisk's. They could still feel the child living, and feel their soul swell with life. Even though Asriel said he separated them, Chara could still take Frisk's soul.

"Do you think you can kill me if I'm like this?" Chara asked with dead eyes and a stretched smile. "I still have their soul. They gave it to me as payment for this world and I'm never letting it go." A collective chill ran through the spine of everyone present. Chara reached back and lifted Frisk's soul right out of their chest. They held it up to Asriel and giggled. "See? It's mine." Chara stood up, and nobody stopped them. Asriel stepped back, afraid of hurting Frisk's soul and unsure what he could do.

"Who're you punk?!" Undyne growled, standing up from where she had knelt beside the children. "I feel something awful coming from your body....It doesn't feel right! You don't belong here, do you?" She summoned a spear into her hand and held the tip out towards Chara's face.

"I am Chara. I used to be something like a demon...a monster that wanted nothing but to see you all die over and over. But now I want to live again...heh...I came down here in the first place because I wished for death...now everything is different." Chara reflected on their odd change in perspective with grim amusement.

"Why...did you want to die, Human?" Papyrus asked quietly, looking up at Chara from where he sat by the children on the ground. His eye sockets curled sadly, pitifully and Chara scowled.

"The whole world is rotten! People are awful and hateful! They cast away anything that's different and they all deserve to burn for it! Don't you agree? They cast you all away, locking you up like animals while they get the rest of the world to themselves." Chara said, gripping Frisk's soul tightly in their hand.

"That sounds a little funny to me. You calling people hateful when you hate them yourself. You're just like 'em huh?" Sans said, his empty eye sockets piercing through Chara's shell.

"I had to be. To live in this world you can't feel anything, you can't be anything but what they think you are. If you're different you're worse than garbage. They'll hate you!" Chara's face split into a smile, their cheeks perking up under their eyes. They held out their hand and several shadows of a blade merged into a solid, metal knife in their palm. They gripped the comforting handle tightly. Papyrus stood up and Chara aimed the knife at him.

"Human...it feels like a long time ago somebody hurt your feelings terribly. Like you never had a single friend to tell you how great you were...and your loneliness made you feel empty." Papyrus said gently, slowly approaching Chara.

"Papyrus..." Sans hissed tensely as he watched his brother foolishly approach Chara's knife.

"I've always been empty! I've never felt anything from the day I was born!" Chara laughed and a grin froze on their face. "But people don't like that. They don't like when you don't laugh at their jokes. They don't like when you don't care about them. They especially hate it when you don't _love_ them. They're selfish, hateful garbage that'll push you in the mud because you don't feel anything for them. But when you push them back, then they get angry. They push harder, and yell louder. The first thing I ever felt...I guess it could be called anger." Chara twisted the knife in the air and once Papyrus was close enough to be hit, he stopped approaching. "The second thing I ever felt, was euphoria." Chara's eyes bulged out of their head and as they clacked their teeth together they stretched their lips as far as they could from their manic smile. "It felt so good to see them suffer. To feel what I only know. Why did they get to be happy? Why did they get to be normal? Making them hurt started out just feeling like justice. In the end, it was just funny." Chara chuckled uneasily. "But when you find suffering funny, people hate you even more. You start to see how dark the world is around you. Causing pain is apparently bad...but everyone in the world causes me pain....so that means that they're all bad. There isn't a single good thing in this world which means it shouldn't exist." Papyrus frowned at Chara and slowly knelt down so that he was just slightly taller than the child.

"I was right...you've been hurt a lot, Human. I bet you tried really hard for a really long time didn't you? I know how hard it can be to stay positive when you feel alone but you don't have to be alone! All you have to do is ask and I, The Great Papyrus will be your friend! I will bring joy and light into your dark life and turn it right around!" Papyrus said with a beaming smile. Chara's grin fell and a single chuckle huffed from their chest.

"What an idiot." Chara said.

"Human! Don't talk about yourself that way!" Papyrus gasped. "Sure your way of thinking is mean and kind of heartless but all you really need is one good person in your life to make things better!"

"There are no good people. Everyone is selfish. Everything hurts. The world is nothing but suffering and everyone pretends not to notice so they don't feel uncomfortable!" Papyrus reached out and wrapped his bony arms around Chara, squeezing the child's arms against themself while their knife stuck up by Papyrus' shoulder. Chara could feel Frisk's soul beating against their chest. It would be easy to let it slip in and consume their life.

"Human. Anyone can be a good person if they try. and I hardly have to try at all! Maybe being good is a little harder for you...but that's okay. I accept you just as you are. I won't ever push you, or yell at you, even if you're at your worst. Even if you hurt people...or me....I believe goodness is there in your heart."

"How can you be this dense? Of course you don't remember all the times I've killed you, or your brother. You've forgotten when I stabbed holes in Undyne's body or when you gave me this speech before." Papyrus let go of Chara and slowly moved away from them. Chara grinned cruelly at the skeleton. "You're an idiot Papyrus. There is nothing in my heart but hatred! You've told me before I could be better, and that you'd help me and be my friend and do you know what I did after that? I cut off your head and crushed it under my foot. I've killed you so many times and you still try to say I can be good?" Chara laughed emptily. Sweat rolled down the side of Papyrus' skull. He tensed up and almost curled his teeth in a grimace.

"S-still..." Papyrus said, which stopped Chara's cackling, "Even if you've...killed me...and everyone I love it's never too late to give goodness a try! You don't give yourself enough credit, Chara! I think you're strong! I think...despite everything you've hung onto who you are. Although lots of people didn't like that, somewhere out there, somebody will. I'll try my best to like it too because I believe in you, Chara! You deserve a friend after all the sadness you've felt! I think, after a few years of me telling you every day how great you are, eventually you'll believe it! Just like what my brother did for me! Nyeh heh heh!" Chara's face fell. They couldn't believe just how boundlessly Papyrus' optimism stretched. How was it possible for him to be so positive, even though Chara had just told him they had murdered his family? It wasn't even out of his character. Back when Chara had killed everyone and Papyrus witnessed them all turn to dust, still he tried to appeal to Chara's kindness. Still Papyrus believed in them. Papyrus knew how cold and empty Chara was, and he was stubbornly insistent on helping them. Papyrus, was the first truly good person Chara had ever met and perhaps the only good person in the world. Even so, it ruined everything Chara had ever thought about the planet. Within all its pain, and all of its irritating fakeness, there was at least one, truly good person that lived inside of it.

Chara felt themself losing their form. Their knife slipped through their hand and clattered on the ground only to disappear. Their hatred, their drive to eradicate those lying, happy faces wavered inside of them. They clung to the world, consumed with the idea that there was nothing but pain. Their spirit, was forever uneasy having never found a single person worth sparing. Everyone was a liar, or an idiot. Papyrus, admittedly was an idiot but Chara couldn't see anything fake in him. Chara believed, even if they destroyed everything in the world and all that was left was Papyrus and them, that the skeleton would still tell them it wasn't too late to try. There was love, throbbing in the soul in their hand. It was so close it almost felt like their own.

Concern, caring, fear. Chara had never felt those emotions before but when they held Frisk's soul to their chest, they could feel their stomach clench and their heart race. They felt the alien desire to protect the skeleton and something light in their chest at just seeing him smile. Chara was sad, that they had never felt those emotions, and that they never would but it was comforting to know that even if they were cold forever, Papyrus would still accept them. Chara's body began to billow away like smoke. They became see through and bit by bit disappeared.

"Human! If you're going away now...then it was nice to meet you." Papyrus shut his eye sockets and grinned cheerily at Chara. Chara couldn't say their anger was gone and they couldn't say they didn't hate the world that shunned them. They still felt like it'd be funny if they suddenly cut off Papyrus' head after his heartfelt speech, and that it'd be hilarious to see the look on Sans' face if they did. But they felt calm about themself. They couldn't remember a time when they weren't angry, but it was very quiet. Taking a breath in, felt like they were full and when they breathed out they were finally able to let it all go. Chara's body disappeared entirely and Frisk's soul gently floated down to the floor. Papyrus took it carefully in his gloved hands and placed it down on Frisk's chest where it sunk into the child's body. Air filled the child's lungs and as their eyes fluttered open, colour bloomed on their skin. They saw Papyrus, smiling down at them and then Asriel slid into view at their other side. Toriel appeared from above their head and stroked their cheek with her warm fluffy paw. Frisk leaned into Toriel's touch and cried while she thanked them.

Eventually, Frisk got up and saw the six other children lively and well. They saw all of their friends, alive and smiling. They hugged Toriel and apologized for hitting her. They apologized and held her until she finally put her paw on their head and told them it was alright. Frisk hugged Papyrus and thanked him. They told him he was great, which he agreed with, and they told him that they loved him which he responded to in a flustered mess of words. Frisk hugged Sans and told him again that there would be no more resets. Frisk told Sans that he would get his future from that point on. They told Sans he was brave, and that they loved him. Sans held them back for a long time.

Frisk tried to hug Undyne, but her armor made it difficult. Still, they tried and they apologized to her. They told her she was one of the strongest monsters they had ever met, which she agreed with. They told her she gave them their strength to keep going. They also told her that she should smooch Alphys when they got outside which she became very embarrassed about. Frisk gave Alphys a big hug and told her that no matter what, they were on her side. They told her that she saved their life and that she should never stop going too far with her projects. Alphys cried a little and thanked Frisk for forcing her secret out. Frisk muttered that Alphys should smooch Undyne in passing which nearly made the scientist pass out.

When Frisk hugged Mettaton, all they could really think about was how strong his legs were and how much it had hurt to be kicked by them. Mettaton however, whispered a thanks to Frisk for being kind to Napstablook and for bringing them along. Their make up never would've happened without them. Frisk turned around to hug Asriel but saw him standing far away, by the doorway that led to the barrier. His eyes shone with the warmth of sunlight and his mouth let out a soft, distracted sigh. He stepped into the next room and Frisk ran to follow him. The other monsters followed Frisk outside. Everyone trailed behind Asriel, hearing the lively chirp of bugs, and the welcoming song of birds outside. The warmth of the surface embraced them all and the first breath they took of the open air made them feel like their lungs had never been full before that moment. They were all too captivated to speak as the bright blue sky opened up to them and they all saw their first glimpse of fluffy clouds. They saw the warm sun, and healthy, leafy trees. They were free. Asriel stood, taking it all in with his mouth gaping wide. He felt an overwhelming flurry of emotions but above all, he was incredibly happy.

The group of monsters all gathered together along the rocky path to take in the vast scenery. There were no walls to confine them, just more world that extended beyond their vision. There were no more limits, only more to see.

"Whoa dude isn't that where the barrier is supposed to be?" Monster Kid's crackly voice squeaked. The little dinosaur ran out into the open and gasped loudly at the spectacle of the open world. Behind them, monsters drifted out from the mountain, murmuring to each other in a loud buzz of noise. They all went silent the moment they saw the outside. Hundreds of monsters came outside, finding a place to stand on the path or on the rocky slope below it. For a long time there was just silence and the world sang to them a heartfelt welcome song. Frisk stood beside Asriel and took his hand but he was too entranced by the sky to look down at them.

"Frisk...I never thought that I'd ever get to see this again..." Asriel said in a whisper, almost scared to speak over the sounds of life on the surface. "I feel...incredible." Asriel squeezed Frisk's hand and sniffled wetly as he began to cry. "Thank you Frisk." Frisk rested their head on Asriel's arm and gave his shaking hand a soft pat.

"Thank you Asriel. This wouldn't have happened without you." Frisk said.

"I can't believe the king of all monsters got tied up by spiders in a basement." Toriel grumbled, approaching Frisk and Asriel with her husband.

"I'm sorry Tori, but they were spinning such a nice web and I felt like it'd be wrong to destroy their hard work and then....it was too late..." Asgore replied, his voice deep, rumbling, and kind. Frisk slipped from Asriel's hand and gave the massive goat monster a big hug. "Oh? Who is this? Howdy there little one!" Asgore said, placing his huge paws on Frisk. Frisk told Asgore they were sorry but Asgore had no idea why they were apologizing. He told Frisk that it was nice to meet them and after Toriel explained that Frisk and the other children had broken the barrier, Asgore gave the child a surprised thanks.

"For what you've done for us...we can never repay you but you will always have the protection of monsters. I promise you that." Asgore said, smiling at Frisk. Frisk asked Asgore if they could stay with him, and be part of his family with Toriel and Asriel which he was rather shocked by. "Of course little one. If that is what you wish, we will take care of you like our own child." Toriel's gentle paw stroked down Frisk's messy hair and sent a wave of comfort pouring into them. Frisk felt accomplished, and happy. Finally, the nightmare had ended and they would live out the rest of their life with their family. Only this time, Asriel would get to be part of that family and seeing him admire the horizon, made all of Frisk's struggles feel worth it.


	16. The End

Ring Ring

 

Ring Ring

 

(Sans' voice hums in on the line)

*oh, i guess i'll just leave a message. probably a good thing you didn't pick up, aren't you in school right now? toriel would've thrown a fit if you answered your phone during her class.

 

*anyways, i'm not really sure why i called. i just had this feeling...like i wanted to reminisce about old times y'know. one of those days...

 

*uh, don't forget you're walking frisk home after school today. toriel and alphys both mentioned a meeting. i snuck a couple of cakes from the 'raunt that you two can have. they're on the counter.

 

(Distantly, Papyrus shouts to the phone)

RIGHT NEXT TO MY LOVINGLY PREPARED HOMEWORK SPAGHETTI!

 

*hey papyrus, why don't you arrange the noodles into math questions for them to try?

 

OH MY GOD SANS WHAT A PERFECT IDEA!

 

*yeah, i thought so...give 'em some real food for thought

(You can hear Sans smiling into the phone while Papyrus groans loudly in frustration.)

 

*anyways, it's been a while since i've actually seen you kid which is a shame. i've been working so much i've missed out on some potentially cool hangouts. how's about i play hooky one night and you me and Frisk sneak down to grillbyz?

 

SANS YOU BETTER NOT START BACK INTO YOUR OLD LAZY HABITS! YOU NEED TO BE A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THE CHILDREN!

 

*oh i will papyrus, i promise. besides with a role model like you there isn't much damage i could do.

 

OH....SANS...

(Papyrus sounds choked up)

 

*i....

(A door creaks open somewhere near Sans.)

 

*um.....aren't you supposed to be at school?

 

(Undyne yells so loudly, it sounds as if she is right up at the phone)

*HEY!! I JUST RAN BACK BECAUSE ALPHYS FORGOT SOMETHING IMPORTANT!

 

*oh ok

 

*WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?!

(Sans grunts and the phone's plastic creaks in the line)

 

*oh...nobody

 

*YEAH RIGHT IT SAYS ASRIEL RIGHT THERE ON YOUR PHONE!!

 

*welp you caught me

 

*PAY ATTENTION IN ALPHYS' CLASS PUNK OR I'LL BUST IN THERE AND KICK YOUR BUTT!! I DON'T CARE HOW STRONG YOU'VE GOTTEN YOU'RE STILL NOWHERE NEAR MY LEVEL!

(Sans grunts again and the phone continues to creak)

 

ARE WE YELLING INTO PHONES NOW? I WANT TO JOIN!

 

*YEAH LET'S DO IT TOGETHER PAPYRUS!!

 

OKAY!

(The two of them spend a rather annoying amount of time just yelling continuously.)

 

*What's going on here?

(Asgore's voice cuts through the noise and everyone goes quiet.)

 

*here...

(Something clumsily clicks against the phone for a while)

 

*Ah....howdy? Who am I talking to?......Hello?

 

*IT'S YOUR SON ASGORE

 

*Oh! Is he alright? Is he having trouble in school? Does he feel sick? I can go and pick him up if he wants.

 

*we're just leaving him a message for him to listen to later

 

*Oh....umm......thank you for the lovely gardening gloves you left in my shed. The yellow flowers are very cute. I'm surprised you found any in my size up here but I won't question it. You have your ways. I love you and if your mother were here right now, she would say she loved you as well. But she's not....she's with you, at school and I am sure she will tell you she loves you at some point today. Um...don't forget to pick up Frisk. Dinner is at six. Do your homework....Clean your room.

 

*ASGORE YOU CAN TELL HIM THAT JUNK AT HOME. WHO LEAVES A VOICEMAIL JUST TO LIST OFF CHORES??

 

*Oh....I guess you're right. Sorry.

(A long beep sounds and then the line goes dead.)

 

Ring Ring

 

Ring Ring

 

*sorry about that. asgore accidentally hung up the phone. heh y'know i called wanting to talk to you about when we first came to the surface and things just got way off track.

 

*i was just thinking about it today...how weird it is to finally be out and i was wondering...frisk told me before they died that there wouldn't be any more resets...how d'you think they knew about those? so far...i think everything has just been going forward which i couldn't be happier about but it keeps eating at me.

 

*frisk....and you....you two know more than you're letting us see aren't you? you talk sometimes about things i'm pretty sure never happened....and know things about us you weren't told. and the fact we got out of the underground...seems like frisk had been planning that for a long time.

 

*plus the nightmares...you're hiding something pretty dark from us, i know it.....but i'm not going to pry. no....i just wanted to say thanks. whatever you did....whatever you both endured feels like it resulted in the best possible outcome. so thanks kiddo for what you did for us. i'll cya at home.

(Sans hangs up the phone)

 

(You listen to the empty hiss of the line for a while)

 

(You are reminded of all the people you have to go home to)

 

(You have never felt more loved in your entire life)

 

(You realize, that you love them too and that makes you feel pretty happy)

 

(You're going to have a great life, Asriel.)

 

(They didn't forget you this time.)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....we did it! I wrote this thing, and I guess you read it!
> 
> Thank you so much just for making it this far! 
> 
> This project is a huge step for me, just by completing it though I guess for some 100 000 words aren't much. Well...it's like 94 000 but there's a lot more written in notes so w.e. 
> 
> I would greatly appreciate feedback, even if its criticism since I would like to improve. If you have things to say I'd appreciate if they were commented on the chapter they're relevant to so I can relate it back.
> 
> Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it. :)

**Author's Note:**

> SO this is a thing I made...I never finish projects, especially big ones. Completing this is a huge step for me that I'm very proud of. I had to remind myself that even if it's bad, even if it's embarrassing that I was going to finish this and then post it. It was an idea I had stuck in my head after playing the Genocide run. 
> 
> I would greatly appreciate constructive criticism if you end up reading this fic. Just comment on the specific chapter you have things to say about so I can relate your comments to it. If at any point you bore of this story I would still appreciate if you commented on the chapter you lost interest on and why. 
> 
> Even if this fic is awful, that's okay! I wanna improve so don't feel bad about offering your opinions. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! owo/


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